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(NIVER5X// 


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Mt-LIBRA! 


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AN  ADVENTURE  WITH  THE 
APACHES. 


BY 

GABRIEL   FERRY. 


YORK,  CINCINNATI,  CHICAGO: 
BENZIGER     BROTHERS, 


COPYRIGHT,  1900,  BY  BENZIGER  BROTHERS 


PQ 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  PAGE 

A  SCENE  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 7 

CHAPTER  IT. 
PURSUERS  AND  PURSUED 19 

CHAPTP]R  III. 
DISCOVERED! 31 

CHAPTER  IV. 

RUNNING  THE  GAUNTLET 5i 

• 

CHAPTER  V. 
THE  STRATAGEM 67 

CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  ENEMY  REINFORCED 86 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  FIRESHIP 103 

5 


917 


6  Contents. 

CHAPTER  VIII.  PAGE 


A  BKILLIANT  IDEA 


CHAPTER  IX. 
BETWEEN  HOPE  AND  DESPAIR  .......................    131 

CHAPTER  X. 

SAVEDl  ...........................................................     145 


AN  ADVENTURE  WITH  THE 
APACHES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

A  SCENE   ON   THE  PRAIRIE. 

ON  that  day  the  silent  woodsman  emerged 
from  his  habitual  speechlessness,  and  related 
one  of  the  many  adventures  that  had  befallen 
his  friend  Redwood,  the  Canadian,  in  the 
savannas  of  Mexico. 

Surprised  by  a  band  of  Apaches,  his  deadly 
enemies,  Redwood  had  been  obliged  to  seek 
shelter  for  himself  and  the  young  Fabian, 
whom  he  loved  as  if  he  were  his  son,  and 
Pepe  the  Spaniard,  on  a  small  island  in  the 
River  Gila. 

It  was  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

The  wilderness  was  silent ;  the  fog  was  slowly 
7 


8  A  Scene  on  the  Prairie. 

rising  from  the  river  in  the  midst  of  which 
was  the  island  to  which  the  three  hunters  had 
retreated. 

Large  willows  and  aspens  grew  on  the  bor 
ders  of  the  river,  within  musket-shot  of  this 
islet,  and  so  close  to  the  water's  edge  that 
their  roots  pierced  through  the  banks  and 
drank  their  fill  in  its  flood.  The  intervals  be 
tween  these  trees  were  filled,  moreover,  by  a 
vigorous  growth  of  osiers  or  other  interlacing 
shoots.  But  nearly  opposite  the  islet  was  a 
rather  large  space  completely  stripped  of 
vegetation.  It  was  the  road  that  had  been 
opened  by  herds  of  wild  horses  or  buffaloes  in 
order  to  reach  the  river.  And  through  this 
space  it  was  possible  from  the  islet  to  get  an 
unobstructed  view  of  the  plain. 

The  islet  where  the  three  hunters  found 
themselves  had  been  formed  originally  by  the 
trunks  of  trees  whose  roots  had  held  them  fast 


A  Scene  on  the  Prairie.  9 

to  the  bottom  of  the  river-bed.  Other  trees 
had  been  wrecked  against  this  obstacle,  some 
still  retaining  their  branches  and  foliage, 
others  long  since  withered,  and  the  interlock 
ing  of  their  roots  had  at  length  formed  a  sort 
of  large  raft. 

All  this  must  have  happened  a  long  time 
ago;  many  summers  and  winters  must  have 
passed,  for  the  dry  plants  torn  from  the  banks 
by  the  rise  of  the  water  and  entangled  in  the 
branches  had  filled  the  interstices  of  this 
raft.  Then  the  dust  which  the  winds  raise 
and  transport  from  a  distance  had  covered 
these  plants  with  a  crust  of  earth  and  formed 
a  sort  of  solid  ground  on  this  floating  island. 

Marine  plants  had  sprung  up  all  along  the 
banks.  The  trunks  of  the  willows  had  thrown 
out  vigorous  shoots  which,  together  with  reeds 
and  arrowheads,  surrounded  the  islet  with  a 
fringe  of  greenery  that  consorted  strangely 


10  A  Scene  on  the  Prairie. 

with  the  skeleton  trees  or  their  great  branches 
stripped  of  bark. 

This  sort  of  raft  was  perhaps  five  or  six  feet 
in  diameter,  and  a  man  lying  down,  or  even 
kneeling,  was  completely  hidden  behind  the 
curtain  of  osiers  and  willow  branches. 

The  sun  was  descending  toward  the  hori 
zon,  and  already  a  slight  shadow  cast  by  the 
screen  of  foliage  and  plants  was  stretching 
across  the  island.  Thanks  to  the  freshness 
proceeding  from  this  nascent  shadow  and 
from  the  emanations  of  the  river,  Fabian  lay 
sleeping  on  the  ground.  Redwood  appeared 
to  be  watching  this  precarious  slumber, 
snatched  in  haste  after  the  fatigues  of  a  long 
march  and  in  the  midst  of  incessantly  re 
newed  dangers.  Pepe  was  refreshing  himself 
fcy  plunging  his  legs  into  the  water. 

"  Certainly,"  said  he,  after  a  long  silence, 
"the  inhabitants  of  Madrid  would  pay  very 


A  Scene  on  the  Prairie.  11 

high  for  such  a  stream  as  this  in  the  Man- 
zanares ;  but,  all  the  same,  here  is  a  whole  day 
lost  which  might  have  been  usefully  employed 
in  bringing  us  near  the  Valley  of  Gold, 
whither  we  are  going,  and  from  which  we  can 
not  be  very  far  away  now." 
x\  "  I  admit  it,"  replied  Eedwood ;  "  but  the 
child,"  and  by  this  name  he  designated  the 
strong  young  fellow  who  lay  sleeping  before 
him,  "  is  not  accustomed,  as  we  are,  to  long 
marches  a- foot;  and  while  ninety  miles  in 
twelve  days  is  no  great  feat  for  us,  yet  on 
him,  who  is  not  accustomed  to  travel  except 
on  horseback,  ninety  miles  begins  to  tell. 
But  before  he  is  with  us  a  year  he  will  be  able 
to  march  as  long  as  we  do  ourselves." 

Pepe  could  not  avoid  smiling  at  the  Ca 
nadian's  answer;  but  the  latter  did  not  ob 
serve  it,  and  the  Spaniard  continued  to  beat 
the  cool  water  of  the  river  with  his  feet. 


12  A  Scene  on  the  Prairie. 

"  Look/'  he  added,  pointing  at  the  sleeping 
Fabian,  "how  the  poor  fellow  has  changed 
within  a  few  days.  I  can  easily  understand 
it;  when  I  was  his  age  I  would  have  pre 
ferred  a  street  in  Madrid  to  all  the  splendors 
of  the  wilderness.  Fatigue  alone  will  not 
account  for  the  alteration  in  him." 

"  Nonsense !  As  if  the  wilderness  were 
not  preferable  to  cities !  I  will  undertake  to 
make  him  prefer  a  wandering  to  a  sedentary 
life.  Was  it  not  to  bestir  himself,  to  fight, 
to  experience  the  powerful  emotions  of 
desert  places  that  man  was  born?" 

"  Certainly,"  replied  Pepe,  with  gravity ; 
"that  is  why  cities  are  deserts  and  deserts 
so  well  peopled." 

"  Do  not  jest ;  I  am  speaking  seriously," 
returned  the  Canadian.  "  I  shall  leave  Fabian 
at  liberty  to  follow  his  inclinations,  but  at 
the  same  time  I  shall  make  him  love  this  en- 


A  Scene  on  the  Prairie.  13 

chanting  life  of  fatigues  and  perils.  Con 
sider  for  a  moment,  does  not  this  slumber 
snatched  hastily  between  two  dangers  in  the 
wilderness  seem  preferable  to  that  one  ob 
tains  after  a  day  of  lazy  security  in  cities? 
Fabian  has  always  lived  in  solitude,  and  he 
would  not  exchange,  I  think,  the  quiet  of  the 
desert  for  the  uproar  of  towns.  How  silent 
and  solemn  is  everything  around  us !  Look 
here,"  and  he  pointed  to  the  sleeping  youth, 
"  how  the  child  slumbers,  softly  lulled  by  the 
murmur  of  the  stream  caressing  this  little 
isle,  and  the  breeze  stirring  the  branches  of 
the  willows.  Look  yonder,"  and  he  pointed 
to  the  horizon,  "  at  those  mists  which  the  sun 
begins  to  color,  at  this  boundless  immensity 
where  man  roams  in  his  primeval  liberty  like 
the  bird  that  hovers  in  the  regions  of  air." 

The  Spaniard  shook  his  head  with  an  air 
of  doubt,  although  he  shared  the  ideas  of  the 


14  A  Scene  on  the  Prairie. 

Canadian  willingly  enough,  and  habit  had 
rendered  a  roving  life  to  him  also  full  of 
secret  charm. 

"  Look,"  continued  the  old  hunter ;  "  that 
cloud  of  dust  over  there  on  the  river  bank  is 
a  troop  of  wild  horses  coming  to  drink  before 
returning  for  the  night  to  their  distant  feed 
ing-grounds.  See  how  they  come  up  in  all 
the  haughty  beauty  that  God  gives  to  un 
tamed  animals,  with  their  glowing  eye*,  their 
wide  pink  nostrils,  their  floating  manes.  Ah ! 
I  have  a  notion  to  waken  Fabian  to  look  at 
and  admire  them." 

"Let  him  sleep,  Eedwood;  possibly  his 
dreams,  the  dreams  one  has  at  his  age,  are 
showing  him  more  graceful  apparitions  than 
deserts  ever  afford,  and  which  in  our 
Spanish  cities  abound  on  balconies  or  behind 
latticed  windows." 

The  old  hunter  sighed. 


A  Scene  on  the  Prairie.  15 

"  And  yet/'  he  added,  "  that  is  a  fine  sight 
yonder !  Ah,  how  those  noble  beasts  bound 
with  joy  in  the  intoxication  of  their  wild 
liberty  I" 

"  Yes  !  Up  to  the  moment  when  the  In 
dians  begin  to  hunt  them,  and  then  they 
bound  with  terror." 

"  There  they  go,  as  fast  as  a  cloud  driven 
by  the  wind/'  continued  the  Canadian,  still 
struggling  against  his  judgment.  "  Now  the 
scene  changes ;  hold  on,  do  you  see  that  stag 
which  now  and  then  shows  its  two  brilliant 
eyes  and  its  black  muzzle  in  the  space  between 
the  trees?  He  smells  the  wind,  he  listens. 
Ah !  there  he  comes  to  drink  in  his  turn. 
He  hears  a  noise ;  he  lifts  his  head.  Look  at 
those  streams  of  water  escaping  from  his 
mouth;  does  not  the  sun  make  them  look 
like  liquid  gold?  Oh,  I  must  wake  up  the 
child  at  once !" 


16  A  Scene  on  the  Prairie. 

"  Let  him  sleep,  I  tell  you ;  perhaps,  in 
stead  of  this  fine  animal,  his  dreams  are 
showing  him  crowded  streets  and  stately 
edifices." 

The  old  Canadian  sighed  again. 

"  Is  not,  that  stag  also  the  emblem  of 
boundless  independence  ?" 

"Up  to  the  moment  when  the  wolves 
come  together  to  pursue  and  tear  him  to 
pieces.  Possibly  his  chances  of  life  would 
be  greater  in  one  of  our  royal  parks.  Every 
thing  in  its  own  time,  Eedwood;  maturity 
loves  silence,  youth  sleeps  quietly  only  in 
the  midst  of  noise." 

In  Eedwood  illusion  was  still  struggling 
against  reality.  It  was  the  drop  of  gall 
which  God  distils  into  every  cup  of  happi 
ness;  He  wills  that  there  should  be  no  per 
fect  felicity,  for  then  death  would  be  too 
great  a  pain;  as  He  also  wills  that  there 


A  Scene  on  the  Prairie.  IV 

should  not  be  too  much  unmitigated  evil, 
for  otherwise  it  would  be  too  painful  to  live. 

The  Canadian  dropped  his  head  pensively 
on  his  breast  and  fell  into  a  sad  reverie, 
glancing  from  time  to  time  at  the  sleeping 
Fabian,  while  Pepe  was  putting  on  again 
his  buffalo-skin  boots.  Suddenly  the  latter 
exclaimed : 

"Hold  on!  What  did  I  tell  you?  Do 
you  not  hear  that  howling,  I  ought  to  say 
that  barking,  in  the  distance,  for  wolves 
when  they  are  hunting  give  tongue  like 
dogs?  Poor  stag!  as  you  say,  he  is  cer 
tainly  the  emblem  of  life  in  the  wilderness." 

"  Shall  I  waken  Fabian  this  time  ?"  asked 
the  Canadian,  with  an  air  of  triumph. 

"  Yes,  certainly,"  returned  the  Spaniard, 
"  he  will  seldom  see  anything  like  that." 

"  The  fact  is  he  will  never  see  anything 
like  it  in  any  city,"  exclaimed  the  enchanted 


18  A  Scene  on  the  Prairie. 

Canadian;  "  such  scenes  will  make  him  love 
the  wilderness." 

And  the  old  hunter  gently  shook  the 
young  man,  after  first  warning  him  by 
voice,  so  as  not  to  waken  him  too  suddenly. 


CHAPTER  II. 

PURSUERS  AND  PURSUED. 

ITS  horns  on  its  reins,  its  neck  inflated, 
its  head  lying  back  in  order  to  inhale  more 
freely  through  its  nostrils  the  air  needful 
to  its  large  lungs,  the  stag  fled  like  an 
arrow  through  the  air.  Behind  him  a  pack 
of  famished  wolves,  some  of  them  white, 
but  the  majority  black,  galloped  after  him 
like  bullets  ricochetting  on  a  plain. 

The  stag  had  an  immense  advance  upon 
them;  but  on  the  sand  dunes  scattered  here 
and  there  on  the  savanna  and  almost  blend 
ing  with  the  horizon,  the  piercing  eye  of  a 
hunter  could  discover  other  wolves  acting  as 
sentinels,  watching  the  efforts  of  their  com 
panions  to  drive  the  stag  toward  them. 
19 


20  Pursuers  and  Pursued. 

These  the  noble  animal  either  did  not  see 
or  else  disdained  their  presence,  for  he  con 
tinued  to  run  in  their  direction.  On  ar 
riving  at  a  certain  distance  from  the  senti 
nels  who  stopped  his  passage,  he  halted  for 
an  instant. 

The  stag  had,  in  fact,  found  himself 
hemmed  in  by  a  circle  of  enemies  constantly 
contracting  around  him,  and  he  stopped  to 
recover  a  little  breath.  Suddenly  he  wheeled 
round,  turned  upon  the  wolves  who  were  driv 
ing  him  toward  the  ambush,  and  made  a  last 
and  supreme  effort  to  escape  this  group  of 
enemies.  But  he  could  not  spring  across 
the  compact  mass  into  which  they  had 
formed  themselves,  and  he  fell  into  the 
midst  of  them.  Some,  crushed,  rolled  be 
neath  his  feet;  others,  tossed  by  his  horns, 
described  a  parabola  in  the  air  and  came 
down  disemboweled.  Then,  with  a  wolf 


Pursuers  and  Pursued.  21 

clawing  on  his  legs,  his  flanks  bleeding,  his 
tongue  hanging  out  of  his  mouth,  the  poor 
animal  advanced  to  the  edge  of  the  stream 
just  opposite  the  three  spectators  of  this 
strange  chase. 

"  It  is  fine,  it  is  magnificent !"  cried 
Fabian,  clapping  his  hands,  and  beside  him 
self  with  that  madness  of  the  hunter  which 
stifles  humanity  in  the  hearts  of  nearly  all 
men. 

"  Isn't  it  fine  ?"  shouted  the  old  Canadian, 
made  doubly  happy  by  the  joy  of  Fabian 
and  that  which  he  felt  himself.  "  Come, 
my  child,  we  shall  see  many  more  like 
it.  Here  you  see  only  the  worst  side  of 
these  American  solitudes ;  but  when  you  are 
with  Pepe  and  me  on  the  banks  of  great 
rivers,  on  the  shores  of  the  great  Northern 
lakes—" 

"The   animal    has   just   got   rid   of   his 


22  Pursuers  and  Pursued. 

enemy,"  interrupted  Fabian;  "he  is  going 
to  spring  into  the  river." 

The  water  leaped  and  boiled  under  the 
spring  of  the  stag ;  after  him,  it  leaped  and 
boiled  a  dozen  times  again;  then,  from 
amidst  the  foam,  and  simultaneously, 
emerged  the  head  and  antlers  of  the  stag 
and  the  heads  of  wolves  in  furious  pursuit, 
eyes  bleeding,  howling  with  hunger  and  de 
sire,  while  others,  less  courageous,  ran  madly 
along  the  river  bank,  yelping  dolefully  as 
they  went. 

The  stag  was  within  a  short  distance  of 
the  islet  occupied  by  the  spectators  of  his 
agony,  when  the  wolves  which  had  remained 
on  the  shore  suddenly  hushed  their  cries 
and  fled  away  in  great  haste. 

"  Eh !  What  does  that  mean  ?"  exclaimed 
Pepe.  "What  has  frightened  them  like 
this?" 


Pursuers  and  Pursued.  23 

He  had  no  sooner  asked  the  question  than 
a  sight  which  became  visible  to  him  all  at 
once  supplied  the  answer. 

"  Crouch  down,  crouch  down,  for  God's 
sake!  behind  the  bushes/'  said  he,  setting 
the  example ;  "  the  Indians  are  in  chase 
also." 

And  in  fact  other  more  terrible  hunters 
appeared  in  their  turn  on  the  vast  arena, 
free  to  all  comers  in  these  unowned  deserts. 

A  dozen  of  those  wild  horses  which  the 
Canadian  and  Pepe  had  watched  while  they 
were  drinking,  were  galloping  madly  on  the 
plain.  Some  Indian  horsemen,  mounted 
bareback  on  their  steeds,  with  their  knees 
almost  on  a  level  with  their  chins,  so  as  to 
give  them  greater  freedom  of  action,  were 
bounding  after  the  frightened  animals.  At 
first  only  three  Indians  were  visible ;  but,  one 
after  another,  nearly  a  score  emerged  above 


24  Pursuers  and  Pursued. 

the  horizon.  Some  were  armed  with  spears, 
others  were  whirling  their  lassos  of  braided 
leather,  and  all  were  yelling  in  the  fashion 
by  which  they  express  either  joy  or  anger. 

Pepe  turned  a  questioning  glance  on  the 
Canadian,  as  if  to  inquire  whether  he  had 
counted  on  these  terrible  adventures  to  en 
dear  their  adventurous  career  to  Fabian. 
For  the  first  time  at  a  similar  moment  the 
face  of  the  fearless  hunter  became  deadly 
pale.  A  mournful,  but  eloquent,  look  was 
Redwood's  silent  reply  to  the  mute  interro 
gation  of  the  Spaniard. 

"That  means,"  thought  Pepe,  "that  too 
fond  an  affection  in  the  heart  of  the  bravest 
man  makes  him  tremble  for  him  whom  he 
loves  more  than  his  own  life,  and  that  ad 
venturers  like  ourselves  ought  to  have  no  ties 
in  this  world.  There  is  Redwood  growing 
as  weak  as  a  woman." 


Pursuers  and  Pursued.  25 

Still,  it  was  almost  certain  that  not  even 
the  trained  eyes  of  the  Indians  could  pene 
trate  the  mystery  of  their  retreat.  When 
the  first  alarm  had  passed  off,  the  three  hun 
ters  watched  the  manoeuvers  of  the  enemy 
with  greater  coolness. 

For  yet  a  moment  the  savage  riders  con 
tinued  to  pursue  the  flying  horses.  The 
numberless  obstacles  encountered  on  these 
plains,  which  seem  so  level,  the  ravines,  the 
hillocks,  the  sharp-thorned  cactus,  could  not 
stop  them.  Without  deigning  to  slacken 
their  speed  or  go  around  these  impediments, 
the  Indian  warriors  leaped  their  horses  over 
them  with  fearless  audacity.  Though  a 
bold  rider  himself,  Fabian  watched  with  en 
thusiasm  the  astonishing  agility  of  these  in 
trepid  horsemen;  but  the  precautions  the 
three  friends  were  obliged  to  take  to  keep 
out  of  sight  of  the  Indians  made  them  lose 


26  Pursuers  and  Pursued. 

a  part  of  the  imposing  and  terrible  spectacle 
of  a  chase  of  which  they  might  themselves  be 
come  the  object. 

These  vast  savannas,  lately  so  deserted, 
had  suddenly  become  a  scene  of  tumult  and 
confusion.  The  stag,  at  bay  and  forced  to 
go  ashore  again,  was  still  flying  like  the 
wind,  while  the  wolves,  animated  by  their 
efforts,  pursued  him  howling.  The  wild 
horses  galloped  ahead  of  the  Indians,  whose 
yells  were  not  surpassed  by  those  of  the 
ravenous  beasts,  describing  wide  circles  in 
order  to  escape  the  lance  and  lasso.  A  thou 
sand  echoes  repeated  the  screams  of  the 
wolves  and  the  confused  and  fearful  yells  of 
the  Apaches. 

At  sight  of  Fabian,  whose  glowing  eyes 
were  following  all  these  tumultuous  man- 
oeuvers  without  seeming  to  dread  the  dan 
gers  which  he  was  braving  for  the  first  time, 


Pursuers  and  Pursued.  27 

Redwood  sought  in  vain  for  that  confidence 
in  himself  which  had  brought  him  safe  and 
sound  out  of  perils  more  threatening  than 
the  unlikely  one  of  being  discovered. 

"Ah !"  he  began,  "  these  are  scenes  which 
dwellers  in  cities  will  never  see ;  it  is  only  in 
the  wilderness  they  are  met  with." 

But  his  voice  trembled  in  spite  of  him, 
and  he  ceased  speaking;  for  he  felt  that  he 
would  have  given  a  year  of  his  life  if  Fabian 
were  not  there  to  see  them.  A  more  painful 
subject  of  apprehension  speedily  increased 
his  anguish. 

Without  changing  its  aspect  the  scene  be 
came  more  solemn;  a  new  actor,  and  an 
actor  whose  part  was  to  be  short  but  terrible, 
had  just  entered  it.  This  was  a  horseman 
whose  costume  caused  the  three  friends 
to  recognize  him  with  a  shudder  as  a  white 
man,  a  Christian  like  themselves. 


28  Pursuers  and  Pursued. 

This  unfortunate,  suddenly  discovered  in 
one  of  the  evolutions  of  the  Indian  chase, 
had  in  his  turn  become  the  object  of  an  ex 
clusive  pursuit.  The  wild  horses,  the 
wolves,  the  stag,  had  vanished  in  the  dis 
tant  fog.  Nothing  remained  but  the  score 
of  Indian  hunters  scattered  at  all  points  of 
the  immense  circle  whose  center  was  occu 
pied  by  the  white  horseman.  For  a  moment 
he  was  seen  to  cast  a  glance  of  despair  and 
anguish  on  every  side.  But,  except  in  the 
direction  of  the  river,  the  Indians  were 
everywhere.  Then  he  must  fly  in  that  di 
rection,  and  he  quickly  turned  his  horse 
toward  the  opening  bordered  by  trees,  which 
was  opposite  the  islet. 

But  the  moment  in  which  he  had  remained 
undecided  had  been  long  enough  for  the 
Indians  to  come  closer  together. 

"Whatever  he  does,  the  poor  fellow  is 


Pursuers  and  Pursued.  29 

lost,"  said  Eedwood ;  "  it  is  too  late  now  to 
cross  the  river." 

"  Redwood,  Pepe  !"  cried  Fabian,  "  if  we 
can  save  a  Christian,  shall  we  let  his  throat 
be  cut  before  our  eyes?" 

Pepe  looked  inquiringly  at  Redwood. 

"  I  am  answerable  for  your  life  before 
God,"  said  the  Canadian,  solemnly ;  "  I 
could  not  answer  for  it  if  we  were  discovered ; 
we  are  but  three  against  twenty.  The  life 
of  three  men,  yours  especially,  Fabian,  is 
more  precious  than  that  of  one;  we  must 
leave  this  poor  fellow  to  his  destiny." 

"  But  intrenched  as  we  are  ?"  persisted 
Fabian,  generously. 

"  Intrenched  as  we  are !"  went  on  Red 
wood  ;  "  do  you  call  this  frail  barrier  of 
osiers,  arrowheads  and  reeds  an  intrench- 
ment  ?  Do  you  fancy  that  these  leaves  could 
protect  us  from  bullets  ?  And  then  there  are 


30  Pursuers  and  Pursued. 

twenty  of  these  Indians  now;  if  a  bullet 
from  one  of  our  rifles  should  lay  out  one  of 
those  red  devils,  you  would  presently  see  a 
hundred  instead  of  twenty ;  may  God  f or6ive 
my  hard-heartedness,  but  it  is  necessary." 

Fabian  yielded  to  this  final  reasoning. 
Meanwhile  the  white  horseman  was  fleeing 
like  a  man  who  has  no  resource  but  the 
swiftness  of  his  steed.  He  came  toward  the 
opening  in  the  trees  opposite  the  floating 
island.  The  hiding  men  could  see  the 
agonized  expression  of  his  face.  He  was 
not  more  than  twenty  paces  from  the  river 
when  the  lasso  of  an  Indian  caught  him,  and 
the  unhappy  man,  violently  lifted  from  the 
saddle,  lost  his  balance  and  was  flung  on 
the  sand. 


CEL4PTEE  III. 

DISCOVERED ! 

AFTER  the  yell  of  triumphant  joy  which 
succeeded  the  capture  and  fall  of  the  un 
fortunate  white  horseman,  there  was  a  mo 
ment  of  profound  silence.  The  men  on  the 
island  exchanged  a  glance  of  pity  and  con 
sternation. 

"  Thanks  be  to  God !"  said  Fabian,  "  they 
have  not  killed  him." 

The  prisoner,  in  fact,  rose  to  his  feet, 
covered  with  bruises  from  his  fall,  and  one 
of  the  Apaches  removed  the  lasso,  which  still 
confined  him.  Eedwood  and  Pepe  shook 
their  heads. 

"  So  much  the  worse  for  him,"  said  the 

Spaniard,  "  for  if  he  suffers  no  more  just 
31 


32  Discovered  I 

now,  the  silence  maintained  by  these  Indians 
is  a  sign  that  every  one  of  them  is  consider 
ing  what  sort  of  torture  he  will  inflict 
upon  him.  They  prefer  the  capture  of  a 
white  man  to  that  of  a  whole  troop  of  the 
wild  horses  they  were  chasing." 

The  Indians,  remaining  on  their  horses, 
surrounded  the  prisoner,  who,  casting  a  des 
perate  glance  around  him,  saw  nothing  but 
bronze  faces  and  muscles  in  repose.  Then 
the  Apaches  began  to  deliberate  amongst 
themselves. 

Meanwhile  the  Indian  who  seemed  to  be 
the  chief  of  the  band,  and  whose  darker 
color  and  the  black  plumes  of  his  head 
dress  distinguished  him  from  the  other  war 
riors,  sprang  from  his  horse  as  if  he  dis 
dained  this  idle  deliberation,  because  a  more 
serious  matter  demanded  attention.  Throw 
ing  the  bridle  to  one  of  the  band,  who  re- 


Discovered!  33 

ceived  it  with  respect,  the  chief  came  straight 
toward  the  islet.  On  reaching  the  bank  he 
seemed  to  be  looking  for  traces  on  the  sand. 

Redwood's  heart  began  to  beat  with  vio 
lence,  for  this  manoeuver  of  the  Indian  be 
trayed  some  suspicions  of  their  position. 

"  That  dog,"  said  he  in  an  undertone  to 
Pepe,  "smells  fresh  meat,  like  the  ogre  in 
our  fairy  tales." 

"  Quien  sabe?"*  replied  the  Spaniard,  in 
a  phrase  which  in  his  country  answers  for 
everything. 

But  the  sand,  trodden  a  thousand  times  by 
the  hoofs  of  the  wild  horses  which  had  been 
drinking  at  the  river,  betrayed  no  human 
traces  to  the  Indian's  eyes.  Then  he  went 
farther  up  stream,  still  searching. 

"The  demon  has  some  suspicion,"  said 
Redwood,  "  and  in  that  case  he  will  find  the 
*  Who  knows? 


34  Discovered! 

tracks  we  left  behind  us  half-a-mile  from 
here  when  we  entered  the  river-bed  to  reach 
this  islet.  I  kept  telling  you,  Pepe,"  con 
tinued  the  Canadian,  with  a  certain  bitter 
ness,  "that  we  ought  to  have  entered  two 
miles  farther  up;  but  neither  you  nor 
Fabian  were  willing,  and,  like  a  fool,  I  gave 
way  to  your  advice." 

As  he  said  these  words  the  worthy  Ca 
nadian  thumped  his  breast  with  an  energy 
which  would  have  broken  the  walls  of  the 
stomach  in  any  ordinary  human  body. 

During  this  time  the  deliberation  over  the 
fate  of  the  prisoner  had  doubtless  come  to 
an  end,  for  shouts  of  joy  suddenly  greeted 
a  proposition  made  by  one  of  the  Indians. 
But  it  was  necessary  to  wait  for  the  return 
and  the  approval  of  the  chief. 

The  latter  had  continued  his  search  along 
the  bank  as  he  went  up  the  River  Gila. 


Discovered!  35 

When  he  reached  the  spot  where  Redwood 
and  his  two  companions  had  quitted  the 
sand  to  enter  the  river  and  gain  the  islet 
which  served  for  their  retreat,  he  had  no 
further  doubt  of  the  presence  of  the  three 
white  men,  and  leisurely  returned  to  his 
band.  He  listened  gravely  to  the  result  of 
the  deliberations  of  the  Indians,  and  made  a 
brief  reply,  motioning  his  warriors  to  wait 
for  him;  then,  with  the  same  measured 
tread,  he  advanced  to  the  bank  of  the  river, 
after  having  given  a  short  order  to  five 
of  his  riders,  who  set  off  at  a  gallop  to 
execute  it. 

The  water-plants  spread  their  leaves  in 
the  sunshine;  the  wind  ruffled  the  flexible 
osiers  on  the  borders  of  the  islet  apparently 
as  uninhabited  as  in  the  days  when  the 
stream  flowed  merely  for  the  birds  of  the  air 
and  the  buffaloes  and  wild  horses  of  the 


36  Discovered! 

prairies.  No  one  but  an  Indian  could  have 
failed  to  be  deceived  by  this  apparent  calm. 

The  chief  made  a  speaking-trumpet  of  his 
hand,  and  shouted  in  a  language  half  Indian, 
half  Spanish: 

"  The  white  warriors  of  the  North  may 
show  themselves ;  Black  Bird  is  their  friend." 

At  these  words,  which  the  wind  brought 
to  the  ears  of  Eedwood  and  his  two  com 
panions,  the  Canadian  gave  the  arm  of  the 
Spanish  hunter  a  close  pressure.  Redwood 
and  Pepe  had  understood  the  mixed  dialect 
of  the  Indian. 

"What  answer  shall  we  make  that 
hound?"  said  he. 

"  None,"  replied  Pepe,  laconically. 

The  breeze  which  murmured  through  the 
river  reeds  was,  in  fact,  the  sole  reply  which 
the  Indian  obtained. 

Black  Bird  spoke  again: 


Discovered!  37 

"  The  eagle  may  conceal  his  track  through 
the  air  from  the  eye  of  an  Apache,  the  salmon 
going  up  the  cataracts  may  not  leave  a  fur 
row  behind  him;  but  a  white  man  who 
crosses  the  deserts  is  neither  an  eagle  nor  a 
salmon." 

"  Nor  a  goose,  either/'  muttered  Pepe  the 
Sluggard,  "and  only  a  goose  would  betray 
himself  by  trying  to  sing." 

The  Indian  listened  once  more;  but  the 
Spaniard's  response  was  not  calculated  to 
reach  his  ear. 

"The  white  warriors  of  the  North,"  re 
sumed  Black  Bird,  without  becoming  dis 
couraged,  "  are  only  three;"  and  he  empha 
sized  this  word  to  make  his  hearers  compre 
hend  that  he  knew  their  numbers  as  well  as 
their  position ;  "  only  three  against  twenty, 
and  the  red  warriors  pledge  their  word  to 
treat  them  as  friends  and  allies." 


38  Discovered! 

"Ah!"  said  the  Canadian  to  Pepe,  "for 
what  treachery  has  the  Indian  need  of  us?" 

"  Let  him  tell  us  and  then  we  shall  know," 
replied  Pepe;  "he  has  not  finished  yet,  or 
I  am  much  mistaken." 

"  When  the  white  warriors  understand  the 
intentions  of  Black  Bird  they  will  come  out 
of  their  hiding-place,"  continued  the  Apache 
chief,  "  and  they  are  going  to  learn  them : 
the  white  men  of  the  North  are  the  enemies 
of  those  of  the  South;  their  language  and 
their  God  are  different.  The  Apaches  have 
a  whole  camp  of  Southern  warriors  in  their 
grasp.  If  the  Northern  warriors  will  join 
their  rifle  guns  to  those  of  the  Indians,  they 
will  share  with  them  the  scalps,  the  treas 
ures,  the  horses  of  the  men  of  the  South, 
and  the  Indians  and  the  white  men  will 
dance  around  the  corpses  of  their  enemies 
and  the  ashes  of  their  camp." 


Discovered!  39 

Eedwood  and  Pepe  looked  at  each  other 
in  astonishment.  Fabian,  thanks  to  their 
explanation,  also  understood  that  they  were 
being  offered  an  alliance  which  their  con 
sciences  condemned;  and  the  lightnings  of 
their  eyes,  the  scornful  swelling  of  their 
nostrils  proved  that  the  noble  trio  were  of 
one  mind  on  this  subject,  to  perish  rather 
than  aid  the  Indians  to  triumph  even  over 
their  deadly  enemies. 

"  Do  you  understand  the  miscreant  ?"  said 
Redwood,  carried  away  by  his  indignation 
and  using  a  metaphor  proper  to  the  Indian 
tongue;  "he  mistakes  jaguars  for  jackals. 
Ah !  if  Fabian  were  not  here,"  he  added  in 
a  whisper,  "  the  bullet  of  a  good  rifle  would 
carry  my  reply." 

The  Indian,  however,  remained  quite  cer 
tain  of  the  presence  of  the  hunters  in  the 
islet ;  still,  he  began  to  lose  patience,  for  the 


40  Discovered! 

orders  of  the  chiefs  of  the  council  were  per 
emptory. 

"The  buffalo  of  the  prairies,"  he  re 
sumed,  "  is  not  easier  to  follow  than  the  trace 
of  the  white  man.  The  trace  of  the  buffalo 
indicates  to  an  Indian  its  age,  its  plumpness 
or  its  meagerness,  the  place  it  is  going  to 
and  the  time  when  it  passed  by.  Behind 
the  reeds  of  the  floating  islet  there  is  a  man 
as  strong  as  a  bison,  taller  than  the  longest 
rifle;  he  has  with  him  a  man  of  mixed 
blood,  both  Northern  and  Southern,  and  a 
young  warrior  of  pure  Southern  blood;  but 
the  alliance  of  the  two  last  with  the  first 
shows  that  they  are  the  enemies  of  the 
Southern  whites,  for  the  weaker  seek  the 
friendship  of  those  who  are  stronger  and 
always  espouse  their  cause/' 

"  The  sagacity  of  those  dogs  is  admira 
ble,"  said  Redwood  to  Pepe. 


Discovered!  41 

"  You  think  so  because  it  natters  you/' 
replied  Pepe,  whose  self-love  seemed 
wounded. 

"  I  am  waiting  for  the  answer  of  the 
whites/'  went  on  Black  Bird,  and  he  lis 
tened.  "  I  hear  nothing/'  he  resumed,  "  but 
the  river  which  murmurs  and  the  wind  which 
says  to  me  for  them :  The  whites  imagine  a 
thousand  errors;  they  think  that  the  In 
dian's  eyes  are  in  the  back  of  his  head,  that 
the  trace  of  the  bison  is  invisible,  that  the 
reeds  are  impervious  to  bullets.  Black  Bird 
and  his  warriors  laugh  at  what  the  wind  says 
to  him." 

"There  it  is  at  last!"  said  Pepe;  "the 
Indian  is  speaking  his  real  language;  he  is 
not  very  squeamish  in  seeking  allies  like  us." 

"  Ah !"  exclaimed  the  Canadian  sorrow 
fully,  "  if  we  had  entered  two  miles  further 
up  the  river !" 


42  Discovered! 

"  A  friend  disdained/'  went  on  the  Indian 
sententiously,  "  becomes  a  terrible  enemy." 

"We  say  something  like  that  at  home," 
added  Pepe,  in  an  undertone: 

"  Ni  pastel  recalentado, 
Ni  amigo  reconciliado."* 

At  the  same  time  Black  Bird  signed  the 
captive  to  approach  him.  The  latter  came 
forward;  the  chief  pointed  out  to  him  with 
his  finger  an  open  space  between  two  clumps 
of  osier  on  the  islet. 

"  The  rifle  of  the  white  face/' — this  was 
not  an  allusion  to  the  livid  pallor  of  the  un 
happy  man's  countenance,  but  a  customary 
designation  of  the  color  of  the  white  man's 
skin, — "can  it  send  a  bullet  into  the  space 
separating  those  two  tall  plants  yonder?" 

But  the  prisoner  had  comprehended  noth- 

*  "  Neither  a  warmed-over  pie, 
Nor  a  reconciled  friend." 


Discovered!  43 

ing  but  the  little  Spanish  mingled  with  the 
Indian  dialect,  and  he  remained  silent  and 
trembling. 

Thereupon  Black  Bird  said  a  few  words  to 
one  of  his  warriors,  who  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  white  man  the  rifle  they  had  seized, 
and  then  he  succeeded  in  making  the  priso 
ner  understand  by  means  of  gestures  what 
he  expected  of  him.  The  poor  wretch  took 
aim;  but  his  limbs  quaked  with  terror,  and 
his  rifle  wavered  in  his  hands  from  right  to 
left,  from  top  to  bottom. 

"  The  poor  fellow  will  not  even  touch  the 
islet,"  said  Pepe,  unconcernedly ;  "  and  if 
the  Indian  has  no  other  means  of  making  us 
speak,  not  a  word  will  I  say  until  to 
morrow." 

The  white  fired,  and,  in  fact,  the  bullet 
from  the  badly  handled  rifle  sank  whistling 
into  the  water  a  few  inches  away  from  the 


44  Discovered! 

islet.  Black  Bird  made  a  scornful  gesture, 
then  turned  and  gazed  intently  on  every  side. 

"  Yes/'  said  Pepe,  "  look  for  powder  and 
bullets  among  the  lances  and  lassos  of  your 
warriors." 

As  he  was  ending  this  consoling  reflection, 
the  five  riders  who  had  been  sent  away  by 
the  chief  returned  on  their  newly  capari 
soned  horses,  themselves  armed  for  the  com 
bat  with  rifles  or  with  quivers  filled  with 
arrows.  They  had  been  to  resume  the 
weapons  they  had  laid  aside  in  order  to  chase 
the  wild  horses  with  greater  freedom.  Five 
other  warriors  immediately  departed  in  their 
turn. 

"  That  spoils  it,"  said  Eedwood,  sadly. 

"  Suppose  we  should  make  an  attack 
while  there  are  only  fifteen  of  them,"  said 
Pepe. 

"  No,"  replied  the  Canadian,  "  let  us  re- 


Discovered!  45 

main  quiet  and  silent;  the  Indian  is  still 
doubtful  whether  we  are  here." 

"As  you  like,"  and  Pepe  continued  to 
peer  through  the  trunks  of  the  trees. 

The  Indian  chief  had  taken  up  a  rifle  and 
once  more  advanced  to  the  river  bank. 

"Black  Bird's  hands  do  not  tremble  like 
a  reed  shaken  by  the  wind,"  said  the  Indian, 
lifting  the  rifle  and  holding  its  barrel 
turned  toward  the  islet,  motionless  and  firm 
in  his  vigorous  hands.  "  But  before  firing," 
he  went  on,  "the  Indian  will  await  an  an 
swer  from  the  concealed  whites  and  count 
one  hundred." 

"  Place  yourself  behind  me,  Fabian,"  said 
Redwood. 

"  I  shall  stay  here,"  said  Fabian,  with  a 
determined  look.  "I  am  younger,  and  I 
ought  to  expose  myself  for  you." 

"  Child,"  said  the  Canadian,  "  do  you  not 


46  Discovered! 

see  that  my  body  is  bigger  than  yours  by  six 
inches  on  every  side,  and  that  would  give  the 
Indian's  bullet  a  double  chance." 

Without  disturbing  a  single  osier  of  the 
green  fringe  which  they  formed  around  the 
islet,  the  Canadian  moved  forward  and 
kneeled  down  in  front  of  Fabian. 

"  Let  him  do  as  he  pleases,  Fabian,"  said 
Pepe,  tranquilly.  "  No  man  ever  had  a 
nobler  shield  than  this  giant's  heart,  which 
only  beats  with  fear  for  you." 

The  Indian  chief,  the  rifle  resting  on  his 
hand,  listened  while  counting ;  but,  with  the 
exception  of  the  water,  murmuring  as  it  bent 
the  reeds  at  his  feet  and  the  breeze  sighing 
above  the  river,  profound  silence  reigned  far 
and  near. 

Black  Bird  fired,  and  fragments  of  tue 
arrowheads  flew  into  the  air;  but,  kneeling 
one  behind  the  other,  the  three  hunters  did 


Discovered!  47 

not  present  a  very  large  target,  and  the  bul 
let  whistled  by  them  at  some  distance. 

Black  Bird  allowed  a  minute  to  elapse, 
then  shouted  again  in  a  loud  voice : 

"  The  Indian  was  deceived ;  he  admits 
his  mistake.  He  will  go  and  look  elsewhere 
for  the  white  warriors." 

"  Tell  that  to  the  marines/'  said  Pepe ; 
"  the  hound  is  surer  than  ever  he  was.  The 
tempter  is  going  to  let  us  alone  for  a  while, 
until  he  has  got  through  with  that  poor  fel 
low  yonder,  which  will  not  take  long,  for  the 
torture  of  a  white  man  is  a  sight  which  an 
Indian  is  always  in  a  hurry  to  enjoy." 

"  But  then  will  it  not  be  time,"  exclaimed 
Fabian,  "to  make  some  effort  in  favor  of 
that  wretch  who  is  expecting  a  frightful 
death?" 

Eedwood  in  his  turn  interrogated  his 
companion  by  a  glance,  then  he  replied : 


48  Discovered! 

"  We  do  not  say  no ;  nevertheless,  I  hope 
that  some  unexpected  circumstance  may  come 
to  our  assistance.  Whatever  Pepe  may  say, 
this  Indian  may  still  doubt,  while,  if  we  show 
ourselves,  he  will  doubt  no  longer." 

The  old  man  took  a  thoughtful  attitude. 

"To  accept  an  alliance  with  these  devils 
would  be  an  unworthy  piece  of  cowardice." 

"  What  is  to  done  ?  What  is  to  be  done  ?" 
added  the  Canadian,  sorrowfully. 

Still  another  fear  tormented  him.  He  had 
seen  Fabian  in  danger  when  his  blood  boiled 
with  the  heat  of  passion.  But  did  the  boy 
possess  the  cool  courage  which  faces  death 
unspurred  by  anger  ?  Had  he  that  stoic  res 
ignation  of  which  the  Spaniard  and  him 
self  had  given  so  many  proofs?  The  Ca 
nadian  resorted  to  a  harsh  test. 

"  Listen,  Fabian,"  said  he ;  "  can  I  make 
you  understand  the  language  of  a  man? 


Discovered!  49 

Will  not  your  heart  be  frozen  by  the  words 
transmitted  to  it  through  your  ears?" 

"  Why  should  you  doubt  my  courage  ?" 
answered  Fabian,  simply,  in  a  tone  of  soft 
reproach.  "  Whatever  you  may  say  I  will 
listen  to  without  blenching;  whatever  you 
may  do,  I  will  do  it  also  without  trembling." 

"  Fabian  is  speaking  truth,  Pepe/'  cried 
the  Canadian.  "  See  how  his  eye  proudly 
contradicts  the  simplicity  of  his  language." 

And  in  the  enthusiasm  of  his  joy  he 
clasped  Fabian  in  his  arms;  then  he  re 
sumed  speaking  with  a  certain  solemnity : 

"  Three  men  never  found  themselves  in  a 
position  more  dangerous  than  ours.  Our 
enemies  outnumber  us  seven  to  one.  Should 
each  of  us  kill  seven  warriors,  there  would 
still  remain  as  many  as  ourselves." 

"We  have  done  as  much  before,"  inter 
rupted  Pepe. 


50  Discovered! 

"  Well !  We  will  do  it  again/'  exclaimed 
Fabian. 

The  Canadian's  eyes  shone  with  affection 
ate  pride. 

"  Now/'  said  he,  "  whatever  happens,  we 
shall  never  part  again.  God  will  do  the  rest, 
and  we  will  try  to  save  that  unfortunate 
man." 

"  To  work  then !"  cried  Fabian. 

"  Not  yet,  not  yet,  my  child ;  let  us  first 
see  what  those  red  devils  are  going  to  do 
with  their  prisoner." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

BUNNING   THE   GAUNTLET. 

WHILE  this  dialogue  was  going  on,  the  In 
dians  had  led  the  captive,  though  leaving 
him  free  use  of  his  limbs.  They  had  formed 
a  straight  line  within  two  gunshots  of  the 
shore.  The  white  man  was  some  distance  in 
front  of  this  line  of  tormentors. 

"I  see  what  they  are  going  to  do,"  said 
Eedwood,  "  as  well  as  if  I  had  assisted  at 
their  deliberations.  They  mean  to  find  out 
whether  that  poor  fellow's  legs  are  stronger 
than  his  hands.  The  demons  intend  to  give 
themselves  the  pleasure  of  a  chase." 

"How  is  that?"  said  Fabian. 

"  They  will  give  their  captive  a  little  ad 
vantage  in  distance,  and,  at  a  given  signal, 
51 


52  Running  the  Gauntlet. 

he  will  make  his  spring  forward.  Then  the 
Indians  will  run  after  him,  lance  or  toma 
hawk  in  hand.  If  the  white  man's  legs  are 
agile,  he  will  reach  the  river  first,  and  we 
will  shout  to  him  to  swim  over  to  us.  A 
few  rifle  shots  will  protect  him,  and  he  will 
reach  the  islet  safe  and  sound.  The  rest 
will  be  our  affair.  But  if  terror  paralyzes 
his  legs,  as  it  made  his  hand  tremble  just 
now,  the  first  Indian  that  catches  up  to  him 
will  either  break  his  head  with  the  blow  of  a 
tomahawk  or  run  him  through  with  a  lance. 
In  any  case,  we  will  do  our  best." 

At  this  moment  the  five  Indians  who  had 
gone  away  returned,  armed  from  head  to 
foot  like  those  who  had  preceded  them  The 
newcomers  joined  these  latter. 

While  clutching  his  rifle  with  violence, 
Fabian  looked  with  profound  compassion  at 
the  unfortunate  white  man,  who,  with  hag- 


Running  the  Gauntlet.  53 

gard  eyes  and  features  convulsed  with  terror, 
was  waiting  in  horrible  anguish  for  the  sig 
nal  to  be  given  by  the  Indian  chief.  It  was 
a  fearful  moment,  for  the  man-hunt  was 
about  to  begin. 

In  the  islet  as  well  as  on  the  plain  all  were 
watching  for  this  moment  with  deep  anxiety, 
when  Black  Bird  suddenly  made  a  sign  to  de 
fer  for  an  instant  the  opening  of  this  fright 
ful  chase.  It  was  a  gesture  easy  to  compre 
hend.  With  one  linger  he  pointed  to  the 
bare  feet  of  his  warriors;  then  he  desig 
nated  in  the  same  way  the  boots  of  Cordova 
leather  which  protected  those  of  the  white. 
The  latter  sat  down  on  the  sand  and  took 
them  off,  slowly  and  with  hesitation,  per 
haps  to  gain  a  few  more  seconds. 

"  The  dogs,  the  devils  I"  exclaimed  Fabian. 

But  Eedwood  laid  his  hand  upon  the  boy's 
mouth. 


54  Running  the  Gauntlet. 

"  Be  quiet/'  said  he ;  "  do  not,  by  betray 
ing  yourself  too  soon,  deprive  that  poor 
wretch  of  his  last  chance  of  life — our  pro 
tection  when  he  comes  within  gunshot." 

Fabian  comprehended,  and  closed  his  eyes 
so  as  not  to  see  the  horrible  scene  about  to 
be  enacted. 

At  last  the  white  man  was  erect  for  the 
second  time,  and  the  Indians,  with  one  bare 
foot  thrust  out  in  front,  devoured  him  with 
their  eyes.  Black  Bird  clapped  his  hands. 

The  yells  which  followed  this  signal  could 
be  compared  to  nothing  but  the  roaring  of  a 
pack  of  jaguars  following  a  herd  of  deer. 
The  unhappy  captive  seemed  to  have  the  legs 
of  a  stag,  but  his  pursuers  appeared  to  bound 
after  him  like  tigers  on  the  hunt. 

Thanks  to  the  start  given  him,  the  cap 
tive  crossed  safely  a  part  of  the  distance 
lying  between  him  and  the  river.  But  tb« 


Running  the  O-auntlet,  55 

stones,  which  wounded  his  feet,  and  the 
prickly  points  of  the  Indian  fig,  which 
pierced  them,  soon  made  him  stagger.  Still, 
he  was  some  distance  ahead,  when  one  of 
the  Indians  reached  him  by  a  bound  and 
thrust  furiously  at  him  with  his  lance. 
The  weapon  passed  between  the  body  and  one 
arm  of  the  victim,  and  the  Indian,  losing  his 
balance  by  the  force  of  his  misthrust,  meas 
ured  his  length  on  the  sand.  For  an  instant 
the  white  man  seemed  to  hesitate  about  pick 
ing  up  the  lance  dropped  by  the  Indian  in  his 
fall.  Then  the  instinct  of  self-preservation 
made  him  go  on.  But  that  brief  hesitation 
was  his  ruin. 

The  three  hunters,  each  with  his  rifle  at 
his  shoulder,  anxiously  watched  the  various 
chances  of  this  contest  of  a  single  man 
against  a  score  of  enemies.  All  of  a  sudden 
a  hatchet  glittered  over  the  head  of  the  vie- 


56  Running  the  Gauntlet. 

tim,  who,  in  his  turn,  fell  to  the  ground, 
and  was  dragged  by  the  impetus  of  his  fall 
almost  to  the  river's  edge. 

The  Canadian  was  on  the  point  of  firing; 
nothing  but  the  fear  of  killing  him  whom 
he  wished  to  defend  arrested  his  hand  upon 
the  trigger.  For  a  moment,  a  single  mo 
ment,  the  wind  opened  a  clear  space  in  the 
cloud  of  dust.  Eedwood  fired,  but  too  late ; 
the  Indian  who  fell  under  the  hunter's  bullet 
was  brandishing  in  his  hand  the  bloody  scalp 
of  the  wretched  captive  who  lay  mutilated  on 
the  bank. 

To  this  unexpected  occurrence,  followed  by 
a  war-cry  from  both  the  Canadian  and  the 
Spaniard,  the  yells  of  the  Indians  replied 
in  chorus.  The  Apaches  drew  back  from 
him  who  now  seemed  a  mere  corpse.  Yet, 
presently,  this  corpse  was  seen  to  rise  all 
bleeding,  his  skull  laid  bare,  move  a  step 


Running  the  Gauntlet.  57 

or  two  forward,  and  then  fall  back  ex 
hausted,  blinded  by  his  own  blood,  which 
flowed  in  streams. 

The  Canadian  hunter  shuddered  with  in 
dignation. 

"  Oh  I"  said  he,  "  if  there  is  a  spark  of 
life  in  him,  if  he  is  only  scalped,  we  will 
save  him  yet,  for  one  does  not  die  of  that ! 
I  call  God  to  witness." 

As  the  Canadian  ended  this  generous  oath, 
wrung  from  him  by  indignation,  a  suppliant 
voice  seemed  to  reach  his  ear. 

"  Is  not  the  poor  fellow  calling  for  assist 
ance?"  said  he.  And  for  the  first  time  his 
head  rose  above  the  fringe  of  osiers. 

At  sight  of  the  fox-skin  cap  which  cov 
ered  the  head  of  the  giant,  and  of  the  long 
and  heavy  rifle  which  his  hand  seemed  to 
lift  as  if  it  were  a  willow  wand,  the  Apaches 
recognized  one  of  their  formidable  Northern 


58  Running  the  Gauntlet, 

enemies,  and  they  all  fell  back  in  amaze 
ment  at  this  sudden  apparition.  The  hun 
ter  looked  steadily  and  firmly  at  the  river 
bank.  He  saw  the  unlucky  victim,  who 
cried  to  him  for  assistance  in  a  feeble  voice 
and  stretched  out  his  trembling  hands. 

The  Indian  who  had  scalped  him  still  held 
in  his  hands,  contracted  in  death,  the  hair  of 
the  white  warrior. 

At  this  terrible  sight  the  Canadian  drew 
up  his  gigantic  figure  to  its  full  height : 

"  File  firing  now,  against  those  hounds," 
said  he,  "  and  remember  that  they  must  not 
take  you  alive." 

While  saying  these  words  Redwood  reso 
lutely  entered  the  river.  Any  other  man 
would  have  been  covered  by  it  up  to  the 
head;  but  both  shoulders  of  the  Canadian 
rose  above  the  water  level.  His  rifle  held 
the  enemies  respectful. 


Running  the  Gauntlet.  59 

"  Don't  fire  until  I  have  done  so,"  said 
Pepe  to  Fabian;  "my  hand  is  surer  than 
yours,  and  my  Kentucky  rifle  will  carry 
twice  as  far  as  that  Liege  gun  of  yours. 
But,  in  any  case,  do  as  I  do,  and  keep  your 
weapon  in  position.  If  one  of  those  dogs 
makes  a  movement,  leave  it  to  me  to  prevent 
him  from  annoying  you." 

The  Spaniard  kept  his  brilliant  eyes  on 
their  enemies,  who  maintained  their  dis 
tance,  threatening  each  of  the  Apaches  in 
turn  with  the  barrel  of  his  rifle,  ready  to 
fire  at  the  least  sign  of  hostility  on  their  part. 

Meanwhile  the  Canadian  was  still  mov 
ing  forward,  the  water  gradually  growing 
shallower  around  him,  when  an  Indian  raised 
his  rifle  to  fire  at  the  intrepid  hunter.  An 
explosion  prevented  him,  and  the  Indian  let 
his  weapon  fall  on  the  sand,  and  fell  himself 
upon  his  face. 


60  Running  the  Gauntlet. 

"  Your  turn,  Fabian,"  said  Pepe,  throwing 
himself  down  on  his  back,  American  fashion, 
to  reload  his  rifle. 

Fabian  pressed  the  trigger  in  his  turn; 
but  his  aim  was  less  certain,  and  his  gun  of 
shorter  range,  and,  though  his  bullet  forced 
a  cry  of  rage  from  the  Indian  at  whom  he 
had  fired,  it  did  not  bring  him  down.  Ser- 
eral  arrows  flew  circling  around  the  Cana 
dian,  but  Kedwood,  with  undaunted  coolness, 
bent  down  to  let  them  pass  over  or  thrust 
them  away  with  his  hand,  and,  as  he  stepped 
ashore,  Pepe  had  reloaded  his  rifle  and  was 
ready  to  fire  a  second  time.  There  was  a 
moment  of  hesitation  on  the  part  of  the  In 
dians,  and  the  hunter  availed  himself  of  it 
to  pick  up  the  body. 

The  poor  wretch,  clinging  to  his  shoulders, 
had  the  presence  of  mind  to  leave  his  de 
liverer's  arms  at  liberty,  and  the  Canadian, 


Running  the  Gauntlet.  61 

laden  with  his  burden,  again  entered  the 
river,  but  backwards.  Kedwood's  rifle  spoke 
but  once,  and  an  Indian  responded  to  the  ex 
plosion  by  a  death-cry.  In  a  word,  this  lion- 
like  retreat  daunted  the  savages,  and  within 
a  few  minutes  the  victorious  Eedwood  de 
posited  on  the  sand  of  the  islet  the  almost 
fainting  man. 

"  There  are  three  of  them  out  of  the  run 
ning,"  said  the  giant.  "  We  shall  have  a 
truce  of  several  minutes.  Well,  Fabian,  do 
you  see  the  advantage  of  file  firing?  The 
rascals  have  had  enough  for  a  quarter  of  an 
hour.  This  is  not  bad  for  your  beginning, 
and  I  can  assure  you  that  when  you  have  a 
Kentucky  rifle  like  ours  you  will  be  a  very 
good  marksman." 

The  momentary  success  he  had  obtained 
seemed  to  have  made  the  Canadian  forget 
his  gloomy  thoughts,  and  addressing  himself 


62  Running  the  Gauntlet. 

to  the  scalped  man,  who  was  groaning  dole 
fully,  he  said: 

"  We  arrived  too  late  to  save  the  skin  of 
your  head,  my  lad,  but  console  yourself,  it  is 
no  great  matter.  I  have  many  a  friend  in 
the  same  predicament  who  enjoys  very  good 
health  notwithstanding;  it  saves  a  lot  of 
time  in  combing  one's  hair,  and  that  is  all. 
Your  life  is  safe  for  the  moment,  and  that  is 
the  essential  thing,  and  now  we  are  going  to 
try  to  keep  it  so." 

Some  rags  torn  from  the  clothing  of  the 
poor  man  served  to  keep  in  position  on  his 
skull  a  large  compress  of  willow  leaves, 
crushed  and  thoroughly  moistened  with 
water.  This  first  dressing  concealed  the 
hideous  wound.  Afterwards  the  face  of  the 
Mexican,  which  was  all  bloody,  was  well 
washed. 

"You  see,"  said  the  Canadian,  who  con- 


Running  the  Gauntlet.  63 

stantly  cherished  the  idea  of  keeping  Fabian 
with  him,  "  it  is  necessary  that  you  should 
learn  the  customs  of  the  wilderness  and  In 
dian  ways.  The  scoundrels,  who  know,  at 
the  expense  of  three  of  their  number,  what 
sort  of  wood  we  warm  ourselves  by,  have  gone 
to  plan  some  trick  by  which  they  may  effect 
what  they  were  not  able  to  do  by  force." 

The  desert  had,  in  fact,  resumed  its  gloomy 
immobility,  the  aspens  murmured  as  the 
evening  breeze  disturbed  them,  and  beneath 
the  sinking  sun  the  waters  of  the  river  be 
gan  to  be  tinted  with  more  vivid  colors.  Be 
yond  the  space  between  the  trees,  the  plain, 
so  noisy  a  while  since,  was  now  merely  an 
immense  sheet  of  sand,  where  nothing  broke 
the  silence  and  the  solitude. 

"Well,  what  do  you  think  of  it,  Pepe? 
There  are  only  seventeen  of  them  now,"  said 
the  Canadian,  in  a  tone  of  artless  triumph. 


64  Running  the  Gauntlet. 

"  If  there  are  only  seventeen/'  returned 
Pepe,  "  I  don't  say  but  what  we  may  manage 
it;  but  if  they  receive  reinforcements?" 

"  It's  a  chance  to  run,  a  terrible  chance, 
but  our  lives  are  in  the  hands  of  God,"  re 
plied  Eedwood,  brought  sadly  back  to  his 
fears  on  account  of  Fabian. 

The  Canadian  once  more  refreshed  the 
inflamed  skull  of  the  wounded  man  by  a 
fresh  application  of  cool  water,  and  the  poor 
fellow,  relieved  for  the  moment  and  then 
weakened  by  his  emotions  and  the  loss  of 
blood,  fell  into  an  almost  lethargic  slumber. 

"  Now,"  said  the  Canadian,  "  let  us  think 
of  our  own  affairs,  and  try  to  raise  a  ram 
part  more  bullet  or  arrow  proof  than  this 
moving  fringe  of  reeds  and  leaves.  Did  you 
count  how  many  rifles  the  Indians  had?" 

"  Seven,  if  I  do  not  mistake,"  answered 
Pepe. 


Running  the  Gauntlet.  65 

"  Then  there  are  ten  of  them  who  are  not 
so  much  to  be  dreaded.  You  see,  the  scoun 
drels  cannot  attack  us  on  this  raft,  neither 
to  right  or  left,  in  following  the  current. 
All  we  have  to  look  out  for  is  an  attack  from 
the  two  banks,  for  they  may  have  gone 
around  to  cross  the  river  and  take  us  between 
two  fires." 

That  side  of  the  islet  which  faced  the 
bank  on  which  the  Indians  had  shown  them 
selves  was  sufficiently  protected  by  enor 
mous  roots  standing  up  like  chevaux  de  frise 
or  the  stakes  of  an  intrenchment ;  but  the 
side  on  which  the  attack  would  probably  be 
renewed  was  defended  by  nothing  but  a  thick 
screen  of  rushes  and  young  osiers. 

Thanks  to  the  unusual  strength  of  his 
arms,  the  Canadian,  assisted  by  Pepe,  was 
able  to  wrench  from  the  two  ends  of  the  islet 
which  faced  the  current  of  the  stream  some 


66  Running  the  Gauntlet. 

large  dry  branches  and  some  trunks  of  trees 
but  recently  stranded  there.  A  few  minutes 
sufficed  these  skilled  hunters  to  strengthen  the 
feeble  and  most  threatened  side  with  a  rude 
but  strong  intrenchment  which  might  save 
the  defenders  of  the  islet  from  more  than 
one  deadly  attack. 

"Do  you  see,  Fabian/'  said  Kedwood,  "you 
are  as  safe  behind  these  tree-trunks  as  if 
you  were  in  a  stone  fortress.  You  will  only 
be  exposed  to  bullets  which  may  come  from 
the  tree-tops  on  the  shore,  but  I  will  manage 
so  that  not  one  of  those  devils  shall  ever  get 
up  so  high." 

The  Canadian  rubbed  his  hands  with  sat 
isfaction  at  having  erected  a  sufficient  bar 
rier  between  Fabian  and  death,  and  showed 
him  his  station  behind  the  spot  which  was 
best  intrenched. 


CHAPTEE  V. 

THE     STRATAGEM. 

"HAVE  you  noticed/'  asked  Redwood  of 
Pepe,  "that  the  islet  trembled  to  its  very 
base  every  time  we  made  an  effort  to  break 
a  branch  or  get  out  a  block  of  wood?" 

"  Yes/'  said  Pepe ;  "  one  would  have 
thought  it  was  going  to  tear  itself  from  its 
foundations  to  follow  the  current  of  the 
river." 

But  the  two  hunters  felt  that  the  moment 
of  danger  was  approaching,  and  that  the 
truce  was  about  to  be  followed  by  a  long  and 
deadly  struggle. 

The  Canadian  advised  his  two  companions 
to  be  sparing  of  their  ammunition;  he  gave 

Fabian   some   instructions   about   taking   a 
67 


68  The  Stratagem. 

truer  aim;  he  gave  the  Spaniard's  hand  a 
trembling  clasp,  who  silently  returned  it, 
and  then  he  pressed  Fabian  to  his  breast 
with  anxious  affection.  This  tribute  once 
rendered  to  human  feeling,  the  three  de 
fenders  of  the  island  returned  each  to  his 
post  with  a  stoicism  which  an  Indian  could 
not  have  surpassed. 

Some  minutes  elapsed,  during  which  the 
labored  breathing  of  the  wounded  man  and 
the  rippling  of  the  water  against  the  raft 
which  blocked  its  passage  were  the  only 
sounds  that  broke  the  profound  silence  of 
nature  at  the  hour  of  sunset.  The  surface 
of  the  river,  the  tops  of  the  aspens  on  the 
river  bank,  the  banks  themselves  and  their 
rushes,  nothing  escaped  the  attentive  scrutiny 
of  the  hunters  at  the  moment  when  night 
was  quickly  falling  with  its  train  of  am 
bushes. 


The  Stratagem.  69 

"This  is  the  hour  when  the  demons  of  dark 
ness  are  about  to  spread  their  snares,"  said 
Kedwood,  gravely ;  "  the  hour  when  these 
human  tigers  prowl  in  search  of  their  prey. 
It  is  of  them  the  Scripture  speaks." 

No  one  replied  to  this  remark  of  the  Ca 
nadian,  which  was  rather  a  thought  ex 
pressed  aloud  than  a  warning  to  them  to  be 
watchful. 

Meanwhile  the  shadows  gradually  deep 
ened.  The  bushes  on  the  river  bank  began 
to  assume  the  fantastic  shapes  given  to  ob 
jects  in  a  landscape  by  the  uncertain  glim 
mering  of  twilight. 

The  green  of  the  trees  took  on  a  glaze  of 
dark  tones ;  but  habit  had  given  the  two  hun 
ters,  the  Canadian  and  the  Spaniard,  eyes 
as  piercing  as  those  of  the  Indians,  and  the 
vigilance  they  exerted  allowed  nothing  to 
escape  their  trained  senses. 


70  The  Stratagem. 

"  Pepe,"  resumed  the  hunter,  in  a  much 
lower  tone,  as  if  the  expected  danger  had 
suddenly  presented  itself,  "  does  it  not  seem 
to  you  that  yonder  bush/'  and  he  pointed 
between  the  rushes  at  a  clump  of  osiers,  "has 
changed  its  shape  and  become  larger  ?" 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  Spaniard,  "  the  bush 
has  changed  its  shape." 

"  Look,  Fabian,"  continued  the  Canadian, 
"your  eyes  are  as  sharp  as  mine  were  at 
your  age.  Does  it  seem  to  you  that  there  are 
more  leaves  on  the  left  extremity  of  that 
clump  of  osiers  than  are  fed  by  sap  from  its 
roots?" 

The  young  man  pushed  the  rushes  gently 
aside  and  looked  attentively  at  the  spot  in 
dicated  by  Eedwood. 

"  I  should  judge  so,"  he  said,  "  but— " 

He  broke  off  to  look  at  a  point  some  dis 
tance  from  there. 


The  Stratagem.  71 

"  Well,"  asked  the  Canadian,  "  do  you  see 
something  else?" 

"  I  perceive,"  said  Fabian,  "  between  that 
willow  and  that  aspen,  ten  paces  from  the 
clump  of  osier,  a  bush  which  was  certainly 
not  there  an  hour  ago." 

"Ah!"  said  the  Canadian,  "that  is  what 
it  is  to  live  remote  from  cities ;  the  least  de 
tails  of  the  landscape  imprint  themselves  on 
the  memory  and  become  precious  indica 
tions;  you  were  born  for  a  hunter's  life, 
Fabian." 

Pepe  raised  his  rifle  in  the  direction  of 
the  bush. 

"  Pepe  comprehends  at  half  a  word,"  said 
Eedwood.  "  He  knows  as  I  do  that  the  In 
dians  have  employed  their  time  in  cutting 
those  branches  and  making  portable  shelters 
of  them;  but,  to  tell  the  truth,  they  have  a 
trifle  too  much  contempt  for  white  men, 


72  The  Stratagem. 

two  of  whom  could  teach  them  tricks  they 
do  not  know.  Leave  that  hush  to  Fabian," 
went  on  the  Canadian,  addressing  Pepe. 
"  It  will  be  an  easy  target  for  him ;  for  your 
part,  fire  on  those  branches  where  the  leaves 
are  beginning  to  droop.  The  Indian  is  be 
hind  them.  At  the  center,  at  the  center, 
Fabian,"  he  abruptly  ended. 

Two  shots  parted  at  the  same  time  from 
the  islet  in  such  a  way  as  to  seem  but  one. 
The  pretended  bush  sank  down,  but  not  with 
out  giving  the  two  hunters  a  glimpse  of  a  red 
body  writhing  behind  the  leaves,  and  the 
added  branches  of  the  other  clump  of  osiers 
shook  convulsively. 

Pepe,  Fabian  and  Redwood  had  flung 
themselves  down  on  their  backs,  the  two  first 
in  order  to  reload  their  rifles,  the  third  ready 
to  make  use  of  his  own  weapon. 

A  discharge  of  bullets  whistled  over  the 


The  Stratagem.  73 

heads  of  the  hunters  and  broke  off  leaves  and 
small  branches,  which  scattered  as  they  fell 
upon  them,  the  war-cry  of  the  Indians  taken 
by  surprise  reaching  their  ears. 

"  Unless  I  mistake,  there  are  only  fifteen 
of  them  now/'  exclaimed  the  Canadian,  as 
he  broke  into  five  pieces  a  little  dry  branch 
and  stuck  them  into  the  ground ;  "  it  is  good 
to  keep  an  account  of  their  dead." 

Eedwood  rose  from  his  horizontal  posi 
tion  to  his  knees. 

"  Attention,  children,"  said  he,  "  I  see  the 
leaves  of  an  aspen  shaking  over  yonder,  and 
it  is  certainly  not  the  wind  that  moves  them. 
No  doubt  it  is  one  of  those  rascals  who  is 
climbing  or  has  climbed  to  the  top." 

Just  then  a  bullet  came  to  make  a  hole  in 
one  of  the  trunks  of  which  the  raft  was  com 
posed  and  to  prove  that  the  hunter  had 
guessed  correctly. 


74  The  Stratagem. 

"  The  deuce !  we  must  be  tricky  and  force 
the  Indian  to  show  himself." 

As  he  said  these  words  he  took  off  his  cap 
and  vest  and  put  them  in  plain  sight  be 
tween  the  interstices  of  the  branches. 
Fabian  was  watching  him  attentively. 

"  If  I  had  a  white  soldier  in  front  of  me," 
said  Kedwood,  "  I  would  station  myself  be 
side  my  vest,  for  the  soldier  would  aim  at 
that;  dealing  with  an  Indian  I  would  put 
myself  behind  it,  for  the  redskin  would  not 
make  that  blunder,  but  would  aim  at  one 
side.  Lie  down,  Fabian,  and  you,  too,  Pepe, 
and  let  me  act;  within  a  minute  you  will 
hear  one  of  their  balls  whistle  to  right  or 
left  of  the  target  I  have  set  up  for  them." 

The  Canadian  kneeled  down  behind  his 
vest,  and  made  ready  to  fire  on  the  aspen. 
His  conjecture  proved  correct.  In  less  time 
than  he  had  mentioned,  the  Indian's  bullets 


The  Stratagem.  15 

cut  off  the  leaves  on  both  sides  of  the  cap  and 
vest,  but  without  touching  either  the  Ca 
nadian  or  his  companions. 

"Ah!"  cried  Redwood,  "there  are  whites 
who  can  beat  the  Indians  with  their  own 
weapons.  Stick  another  piece  of  wood  in 
the  ground,  Fabian,  we  are  going  to  have  an 
enemy  the  less." 

The  hunter  fired  at  one  of  the  forks  of 
the  aspen  where  he  saw  a  red  tint  which,  to 
any  other  eye,  would  have  looked  like  that 
of  an  autumnal  leaf,  and  the  explosion  was 
still  rumbling  when  an  Indian  tumbled  from 
branch  to  branch  like  an  apple  which  a  hail 
stone  has  detached  from  its  stem. 

At  this  clever  manoeuver  of  the  Canadian 
savage  yells  broke  out  with  such  fury  that 
one  would  have  needed  muscles  of  steel  not 
to  shudder  with  fright.  Even  the  wounded 
man,  who  had  not  been  awakened  by  the  re- 


76  The  Stratagem. 

peated  firing,  momentarily  emerged  from  his 
stupor  to  mutter  in  a  trembling  voice : 

"Virgin  of  the  Seven  Sorrows!  Does  it 
not  sound  like  a  band  of  tigers  roaring  in  the 
shadows?  Holy  Virgin!  have  pity  on 
me!" 

"  It  would  be  better  to  thank  her,"  inter 
rupted  the  Canadian;  "the  scoundrels  may 
deceive  a  novice  like  you  by  whooping  in 
succession,  but  not  an  old  woodsman.  Did 
you  never  hear  jackals  in  the  forest  roaring 
and  replying  to  one  another  as  if  there  were 
a  hundred  of  them,  when  often  there  are  not 

more   than   three   or   four?      The   Indians 

•» 

imitate  the  jackals;  I'll  answer  for  it  that 
there  are  not  now  more  than  a  dozen  behind 
those  trees.  Ah!  if  I  could  induce  them 
to  cross  the  water,  not  one  of  them  would  go 
back  to  his  village  to  tell  the  tale  of  their 
disaster." 


The  Stratagem.  77 

As  if  a  sudden  idea  had  crossed  his  mind, 
Redwood  made  his  companions  lie  down  on 
their  backs.  The  raised  edges  of  the  island 
and  the  tree  trunks  were  protection  enough 
so  long  as  they  were  level  with  the  ground. 

"  We  are  safe  while  we  are  down  like  this," 
said  he ;  "  the  only  thing  is  to  keep  your  eyes 
on  the  summit  of  the  trees;  it  is  the  only 
place  from  which  they  can  reach  us.  Do 
not  fire  except  in  case  we  see  some  of  them 
climb  the  willows  and  remain  stationary. 
The  rascals  do  not  want  to  return  without 
our  scalps,  and  they  will  decide  on  coming 
to  us."  ' 

This  resolve  of  the  hunter  seemed  to  have 
been  inspired  by  Heaven,  for  they  had 
scarcely  lain  down  on  the  ground  before  a 
shower  of  bullets  and  arrows  cut  into  and 
tore  through  the  belt  of  rushes  and  broke 
the  branches  behind  which  they  had  been 


78  The  Stratagem. 

standing  a  moment  earlier;  but  the  projec 
tiles,  having  been  launched  horizontally, 
could  not  reach  them.  The  Canadian 
quickly  pulled  down  his  cap  and  vest,  as  if 
he  had  himself  fallen  under  the  blows  of  his 
enemies,  and  profound  silence  prevailed  in 
the  islet  after  this  apparently  deadly  dis 
charge. 

Cries  of  triumph  greeted  this  silence,  dis 
turbed  again,  however,  in  another  instant  by 
a  new  discharge.  But  this  time,  likewise, 
the  islet  remained  as  silent  and  gloomy  as 
death. 

"  Is  not  that  one  of  the  dogs  climbing  up 
the  willow  again?"  asked  Pepe. 

"Yes;  but  let  us  stand  his  fire  without 
budging  any  more  than  if  we  were  dead  men. 
It  is  a  chance  to  run.  Then  he  will  go  and 
tell  his  companions  that  he  counted  the 
corpses  of  the  pale  faces  on  the  ground." 


The  Stratagem.  79 

In  spite  of  the  danger  of  this  stratagem, 
Kedwood's  proposal  was  accepted,  and  each 
remained  motionless,  but  watching  with 
anxiety  all  the  manoeuvers  of  the  Indian. 
The  red  warrior  hoisted  himself  from  branch 
to  branch  with  extreme  precaution  until  he 
was  high  enough  to  command  a  view  of  the 
interior  of  the  floating  island. 

There  was  still  light  enough  to  see  every 
movement  of  the  Indian,  who  was  not  com 
pletely  hidden  by  the  foliage.  Attaining  at 
last  the  height  desired,  the  Indian  squatted 
on  a  large  branch  and  then  carefully  put  out 
his  head.  The  sight  of  the  corpses  on  the 
ground  did  not  seem  to  surprise  him.  Still, 
he  may  have  suspected  some  trick,  for,  with 
an  audacity  which  the  example  of  one  of  his 
companions,  killed  on  that  very  tree,  was  not 
calculated  to  encourage,  the  Apache  showed 
himself  completely  and  pointed  his  rifle  in 


80  The  Stratagem. 

the  direction  of  the  islet.  His  eye,  like  that 
of  a  snake,  seemed  trying  to  fascinate  his 
enemies ;  suddenly  he  raised  the  barrel  of  his 
weapon  in  the  air,  took  aim  once  more,  and 
then  repeated  the  same  manoeuver  several 
times  in  succession.  But  the  hunters  moved 
no  more  than  if  they  had  really  been  corpses. 
Then  the  Indian  gave  a  yell  of  triumph. 

"  The  shark  is  biting  at  the  hook,"  said 
Hedwood. 

"  I  shall  recognize  that  son  of  a  dog,"  re 
marked  Pepe,  in  his  turn,  "  and  if  I  do  not 
pay  him  back  the  bad  turn  he  has  given  me, 
it  will  be  because  the  bullet  he  is  going  to 
send  over  here  prevents  me." 

"It  is  Black  Bird,"  returned  Eedwood; 
"  he  is  brave  and  prudent,  too,  as  a  chief 
should  be." 

Once  more  the  Indian  directed  the  barrel 
of  his  rifle  toward  the  bodies  which  seemed 


The.  Stratagem.  81 

already  dead;  he  took  aim  as  calmly  as  a 
marksman  contesting  a  prize  at  a  village 
feast,  and  finally  concluded  to  fire.  At  the 
same  instant  a  splinter  detached  by  the  bullet 
from  a  tree  trunk  within  two  lines  from  the 
Spaniard's  head,  grazed  his  forehead.  Pepe 
remained  as  still  as  the  dead  wood  against 
which  he  rested,  and  contented  himself  with 
saying : 

"  Scoundrelly  Black  Bird,  I'll  settle  your 
account  before  long.'* 

Drops  of  blood  had  sprinkled  the  Canad 
ian's  face. 

"  Is  any  one  wounded  ?"  he  asked,  in  a 
trembling  voice. 

"  It's  nothing  but  a  scratch,"  responded 
Pepe. 

"  God  be  praised !" 

The  Indian  gave  another  shout  of  gladness 
and  got  down  from  the  tree. 


82  The  Stratagem. 

The  three  hunters  breathed  again. 

Meanwhile  their  trick  was  not  yet  com 
pletely  successful.  Some  doubts  must  still 
have  remained  in  the  minds  of  the  Indians, 
for  a  long  and  solemn  silence  succeeded  the 
Apache's  last  fire. 

The  sun  set,  a  short  twilight  diffused  a 
'dull  hue  over  all  the  scene,  night  came,  and 
the  moon  shone  above  the  river  without 
the  red  warriors  giving  any  sign  c  f  life. 

"  Our  scalps  tempt  them,  but  they  are  still 
rather  doubtful  about  coming  for  the  a/'  said 
Pepe,  repressing  a  yawn. 

"  Patience,"  replied  the  Canadiar,  "  In 
dians  are  like  vultures,  which  do  n  -t  ven 
ture  to  tear  the  body  of  a  dead  man  until  it 
has  begun  to  decay,  but  finally  conclude  to 
do  so.  -  The  Apaches  will  act  like  vultures. 
Now  let  us  resume  our  position  behind  the 
rushes." 


The  Stratagem.  85 

The  hunters  did  so  with  great  caution, 
keeping  one  knee  to  the  ground,  and  began 
anew  to  watch  the  movements  of  the 
Apaches.  For  an  instant  the  opposite  bank 
seemed  deserted;  then  presently  an  Indian 
showed  himself,  but  cautiously,  to  tempt  the 
patience  of  the  enemy  in  case  his  inactivity 
should  conceal  some  ruse;  another  warrior 
joined  him,  and  both  approached  the  bank 
with  growing  confidence;  in  the  end,  the 
Canadian  counted  ten  of  them,  their  war 
paint  plainly  visible  in  the  moonlight. 

"  T> .:,'  Indians,  if  I  know  anything  about 
them,  ,ire  going  to  cross  the  river  one  be 
hind  -  ae  other,"  said  Kedwood ;  "  Fabian, 
you  Will  take  aim  at  the  first  one,  Pepe  in 
the  middle,  and  I  at  the  next  to  the  last. 
In  that  way  they  can  only  approach  us  at  a 
distance  from  each  other,  and  we  shall  have 
a  beuer  chance.  It  will  be  a  hand-to-hand 


84  The  Stratagem. 

fight,  Fabian,  my  child;  while  Pepe  and  I 
await  them,  knife  in  hand,  all  you  will  have 
to  do  is  to  reload  our  weapons  and  pass  them 
to  us.  By  the  memory  of  your  mother,  I 
forbid  you  to  measure  your  strength  against 
these  dogs  with  a  knife." 

As  the  Canadian  was  concluding  this  ad 
vice,  a  tall  warrior  entered  the  river,  and  the 
moon  shone  successively  upon  nine  others. 
All  moved  forward  with  such  precaution 
that  not  a  sound  betrayed  their  progress. 
One  might  have  fancied  them  ghostly  war 
riors,  returning  from  the  land  of  spirits, 
and  marching  silently  upon  the  waters. 

To  the  Indians  death  seemed  to  hover 
above  the  islet  surrounded  by  silent  shadows, 
for  the  hunters  even  held  their  breath;  and 
yet  the  Apaches  advanced  with  the  utmost 
precaution.  He  who  marched  at  the  head 
of  the  line  had  reached  a  spot  where  the  water 


The  Stratagem.  85 

began  to  grow  deeper.  This  was  Black 
Bird,  and  the  last  of  his  band  had  but  just 
left  the  opposite  bank.  The  moment  had 
come  to  execute  the  orders  of  the  Canadian. 

But  as  Fabian  was  about  to  fire  on  the 
Indian  chief,  greatly  to  the  regret  of  Pepe, 
who  had  a  score  to  settle  with  him,  Black 
Bird,  whether  foreboding  some  danger  or 
because  a  ray  of  moonlight  falling  upon  the 
gun-barrel  of  one  of  the  hunters  had  warned 
him,  suddenly  dived  and  disappeared  beneath 
the  water. 

"  Fire !"  exclaimed  Redwood. 

At  the  same  moment  the  Indian  who  closed 
the  line  fell  into  the  river,  never  to  rise 
again ;  two  others,  aimed  at  by  Fabian  and 
the  Spaniard  almost  at  their  leisure,  strug 
gled  for  a  few  instants  in  the  middle  of  the 
stream,  which  soon  dragged  them  along  mo 
tionless. 


CHAPTEE  VI. 

THE    ENEMY    REINFOKCED. 

PEPE  and  the  Canadian  had  promptly 
thrown  down  their  rifles  behind  them  so  that 
Fabian  could  reload  them,  as  had  been  agreed 
on,  and  now  they  were  standing,  knife  in 
hand,  on  the  edge  of  the  islet,  awaiting  the 
deadly  struggle. 

"  There  are  still  seven  of  the  Apaches/' 
shouted  the  Canadian,  in  a  voice  of  thunder, 
anxious  to  have  the  thing  done  with,  and 
feeling  all  his  antipathy  for  the  Indians 
reviving  at  sight  of  them.  "  Dare  they  come 
and  take  the  scalps  of  the  two  whites?" 

But  the  disappearance  of  their  chief  and 
the  death  of  three  of  their  fellows  had  dis 
concerted  the  Indians;  they  did  not  flee; 
86 


The  Enemy  Reinforced.  87 

they  remained  undecided  and  as  motionless 
as  the  black  rocks  of  the  river,  half  washed 
by  the  shining  waters. 

"Do  not  the  red  warriors  know  how  to 
scalp  anything  but  corpses?"  added  Pepe, 
with  a  burst  of  scornful  laughter.  "  Are  the 
Apaches  like  vultures,  which  pick  only  at 
dead  bodies?  Come  on,  dogs,  vultures, 
women  without  courage!"  yelled  the 
Spaniard,  at  seeing  his  enemies  now  hasten 
ing  back  to  the  shore. 

Suddenly  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  body 

floating  on  its  back  at  some  distance  away; 
its  gleaming  eyes,  however,  betrayed  that  it 
was  not  that  of  a  dead  man,  although  the 
extended  arms  and  the  immobility  of  the 
body  might  have  made  him  think  so. 

"My  rifle,  Fabian,  for  God's  sake !  There 
is  Black  Bird  pretending  to  be  dead  and  let 
ting  himself  be  carried  along  by  the  cur- 


88  The  Enemy  Reinforced. 

rent.  The  dog  could  not  offer  me  a  better 
revenge." 

Pepe  took  his  rifle,  and  aimed  at  the  float 
ing  body.  But  with  the  exception  of  the 
warrior's  eyes,  which  looked  like  live  coals 
in  their  sockets,  not  one  of  his  muscles 
quivered.  Pepe  lowered  his  rifle. 

"I  made  a  mistake,"  said  he  in  a  loud 
voice ;  "  the  whites  do  not  waste  powder  on 
corpses  as  the  Indians  do." 

The  body  continued  to  float,  the  legs  ex 
tended  and  the  arms  stretched  out  like  a 
cross,  and  the  current  made  it  gently  drift. 
Pepe  took  up  his  weapon  again  and  aimed 
more  carefully  than  at  first;  then  he  low 
ered  the  muzzle  again,  and  when  he  thought 
he  paid  the  Indian  chief  anguish  for  an 
guish,  he  discharged  it,  and  the  body  floated 
no  longer. 

"  Did  you  kill  him  ?"  asked  the  Canadian. 


The  Enemy  Reinforced.  89 

"  No.  I  only  wanted  to  break  his  shoul 
der,  so  that  he  might  never  forget  the  cold 
chills  he  gave  me  and  the  trick  he  was  try 
ing  to  play  us.  If  he  were  dead  he  would 
still  be  floating." 

"  You  would  have  done  better  to  kill  him," 
returned  Eedwood.  "  Ah !"  he  exclaimed, 
stamping  on  the  ground,  "  what  is  to  be  done 
now?  I  had  hoped  to  finish  by  ripping  up 
those  devils  in  a  hand-to-hand  fight,  and  now 
everything  must  begin  over  again.  We  can 
not  cross  the  island  to  attack  them." 

"  Nevertheless  it  is  the  best  thing  we  can 
do." 

"  With  Fabian  here  I  would  never  decide 
on  it,"  returned  Redwood  in  an  undertone; 
"  but  for  that  I  would  already  have  escaped 
to  the  bank  opposite  that  where  the  Indians 
are,  for  you  understand  that  they  are  hun 
gering  for  blood  there  like  starving  wolves." 


90  The  Enemy  Reinforced. 

The  Spaniard  shrugged  his  shoulders  with 
stoical  resignation.  He  was  as  well  aware  as 
the  Canadian  of  the  tenacity  with  which  In 
dians  cling  to  the  idea  of  revenge. 

"  Not  a  doubt  of  it/'  said  he ;  "  still  we 
must  either  run  away  or  stay  where  we  are." 

"  Faith !  if  there  were  only  us  two,  gaining 
the  other  side  of  the  river  would  not  take  a 
minute.  The  seven  who  are  still  living 
would  come  up  to  us,  no  doubt,  but  we  could 
manage  them;  we  have  done  more  difficult 
things  already." 

"  That  would  be  better  than  to  stay  kere 
like  foxes  which  are  to  be  smoked  out  of 
their  hole." 

"Agreed,"  said  Eedwood,  thoughtfully; 
"but  Fabian!  and  that  wretched  man  they 
scalped  whom  we  can  not  abandon  to  the 
mercy  of  the  butchers  who  have  mutilated 
him  so  cruelly  already!  At  any  rate,  we 


The  Enemy  Reinforced.  91 

will  not  attempt  flight  until  the  moon  goe& 
down." 

And  the  old  man  bent  his  head  down 
upon  his  knees  with  an  air  of  discourage 
ment,  which  made  a  sad  and  painful  impres 
sion  on  the  Spaniard.  The  Canadian  never 
changed  his  attitude,  except  to  glance  anx 
iously  at  the  sky.  But  the  moon  glided  as 
slowly  as  common  across  its  sheet  of  starry 
azure. 

"  So  be  it,"  said  Pepe,  sitting  down  beside 
his  companion.  "  But  look  here,  these  five 
bits  of  wood  sticking  in  the  ground  are  five 
dead  Apaches ;  add  three  more  and  that  will 
be  eight.  There  should  be  twelve  left,  and 
why  did  we  count  only  ten  in  the  river?  I 
think  I  shall  make  no  mistake  in  supposing 
that  Black  Bird  sent  the  two  who  are  ab 
sent  in  search  of  reinforcements." 

"  It     is     possible,"     returned     Redwood. 


92  The  Enemy  Reinforced. 

"  Whether  we  stay  here  or  escape,  in  either 
case  it  a  terrible  alternative." 

Meanwhile,  when  the  three  hunters  had 
finished  a  frugal  meal  composed  of  meat 
dried  in  the  sun  and  a  little  cornmeal,  the 
rays  of  the  moon  were  already  falling  more 
obliquely  on  the  light  eddies  of  the  river, 
and  a  portion  of  the  trees  were  plunged  in 
darkness. 

More  than  an  hour  had  elapsed  since  the 
Indians  made  their  attempt,  and,  although 
no  noise  disturbed  the  tranquillity  of  the 
night,  Pepe,  who  was  less  engrossed  in  his 
own  thoughts  than  the  Canadian,  sometimes 
bent  his  ear  to  listen  with  a  feeling  akin  to 
anxiety. 

"  Will  that  cursed  moon  never  go  down  ?" 
said  he ;  "  I  am  uneasy ;  I  seem  to  hear  some 
thing  like  water  rippling  under  feet,  and 
it  is  not  the  noise  made  by  the  river. 


The  Enemy  Reinforced.  93 

Buffaloes  do  not  come  to  drink  at  this  hour 
of  the  night." 

As  he  said  this  the  Spaniard  rose  and  bent 
forward  to  watch  both  the  right  and  the  left 
sides  of  the  stream  through  all  its  course; 
but  on  either  side  the  columns  of  mist,  turn 
ing  as  they  rose,  spread  an  almost  impenetra 
ble  veil  over  everything  not  very  near  his  eyes. 
The  coolness  of  the  nights  succeeding  the 
intense  heat  of  the  days  condenses  in  this 
way  the  exhalations  from  the  earth  and  the 
heated  waters  into  thick  clouds  of  fog. 

"I  see  nothing  but  mist/'  said  Pepe,  in 
vexation. 

By  degrees,  however,  these  vague  noises 
ceased  to  reach  the  ear  of  the  Spanish  hunter, 
and  the  atmosphere  resumed  its  ordinary 
stillness.  Another  long  interval  elapsed, 
the  moon  continuing  to  sink,  the  moving 
constellations  retiring  from  mid-heaven,  and 


94  The  Enemy  Reinforced. 

nature  was  slumbering  underneath  her 
canopy  of  white  vapors  when  the  defenders 
of  the  islet  gave  a  sudden  start  and  looked  at 
each  other  in  stupefaction. 

Yells  had  risen  simultaneously  from  both 
banks  of  the  river,  in  sounds  so  piercing  and 
prolonged  that,  even  if  the  mouths  which 
emitted  them  had  been  closed,  the  echoes 
from  either  shore  would  have  been  yelling 
still.  Flight  now  was  impossible,  the  In 
dians  encircled  the  islet  on  both  sides;  the 
two  hunters  were  too  experienced  not  to  be 
certain  of  it. 

"  The  moon  may  set  now,"  cried  Pepe, 
clenching  his  hands  with  rage.  "  Ah !  I  was 
right  in  suspecting  the  two  who  were  absent 
and  the  sounds  I  heard.  Now  who  knows 
how  many  enemies  we  have  around  us  ?" 

"  What  matters  it,"  replied  the  Canadian, 
sorrowfully,  "whether  there  are  a  hundred 


Tlie  Enemy  Reinforced.  95 

vultures  to  tear  our  corpses  when  we  are 
dead,  or  whether  there  are  a  hundred  Indians 
surrounding  us  ?" 

"  True,  the  number  does  not  signify  in 
such  circumstances ;  but  if  this  is  to  be  a  day 
of  triumph  for  the  Indians,  the  vultures,  at 
all  events,  will  lose  by  it." 

"  Don't  go  to  singing  your  death-song  like 
the  Indians,  who,  when  they  are  fastened  to 
the  stake,  begin  to  reckon  up  the  scalps  they 
have  taken." 

"And  why  not  ?  It  is  a  very  good  custom ; 
it  aids  a  man  to  die  well  to  remember  that  he 
has  lived  like  a  man." 

"  Better  to  be  thinking  of  dying  like  Chris 
tians,"  answered  Eedwood.  Then,  drawing 
Fabian  close  to  him,  he  said:  "I  cannot  ac 
count  to  myself,  my  beloved  child,  for  what  I 
dreamed  of  for  you.  I  am  half  savage  and 
half  civilized,  and  my  dreams  are  colored 


96  The  Enemy  Reinforced. 

by  it.  Sometimes  I  longed  to  give  you 
earthly  greatness;  at  other  times  I  could 
think  of  nothing  for  you  but  the  splendors 
of  the  wilderness,  of  those  majestic  harmonies 
which  lull  man  as  he  lies  down  to  sleep  and 
caress  him  at  his  waking ;  but  what  I  can  say 
is  that  the  dominant  thought  of  my  heart 
was  that  of  never  leaving  you.  Must  it  be 
that  we  shall  find  ourselves  together  in 
death?  So  young,  so  brave,  so  beautiful, 
must  yours  be  the  same  fate  as  that  of  a 
man's  who  to-morrow  will  be  useless  ?" 

"  Who  would  love  me  when  you  were  no 
longer  here  ?"  replied  Fabian,  in  a  tone  which 
the  desperate  character  of  the  situation  had 
not  deprived  of  its  full  sweetness  and  firm 
ness.  "Before  I  found  you  the  earth  had 
closed  above  all  that  I  loved,  and  the  only 
living  being  who  could  take  its  place  was  you. 
What  have  I  to  regret  in  this  world  ?" 


The  Enemy  Reinforced.  97 

"  The  future,  my  child,  the  future  into 
which  youth  longs  to  plunge  like  a  thirsty 
deer  into  the  waters  of  a  lake." 

A  powerful  voice  rising  from  the  bank  op 
posite  the  hunters  came  to  interrupt  these 
melancholy  reflections. 

"Let  the  white  men  open  their  ears,"  said 
the  voice. 

"  It  is  that  scoundrel  of  a  Black  Bird," 
said  Pepe,  who  recognized  it  as  that  of  the 
chief  whom  he  had  wounded.  Two  war 
riors,  in  fact,  were  giving  him  the  support 
of  their  arms. 

"  What  is  the  good  of  opening  our  ears  ?" 
he  shouted  in  stentorian  tones,  and  in  a  med 
ley  of  Spanish  and  Apache :  "  The  whites 
laugh  at  the  threats  of  Black  Bird  and  de 
spise  his  promises." 

"  That  is  good !"  replied  the  chief.  "  The 
whites  are  acting  like  vanquished  Indians 


98  The  Enemy  Reinforced. 

who  insult  their  victors.  But  the  eagle 
laughs  at  the  insults  of  the  mocking-bird 
which  assumes  all  voices,  and  it  is  not  to  the 
mocking-bird  that  the  eagle  deigns  to  speak." 

"To  whom,  then?"  cried  Pepe,  who  did 
not  find  this  comparison  soothing. 

"  To  the  giant,  to  his  brother  the  eagle  of 
the  Snowy  Mountains,  who  disdains  the  lan 
guage  of  other  birds." 

"  What  do  you  want  of  him  ?"  interrupted 
the  voice  of  Eedwood. 

"  The  Indian  would  like  to  hear  the  North 
ern  warrior  ask  for  his  life,"  replied  the 
chief. 

"  I  have  a  different  request  to  make,"  said 
the  Canadian. 

"  I  listen,"  replied  the  Indian. 

"  If  you  will  swear  on  the  honor  of  a  war 
rior,  on  the  bones  of  your  fathers,  that  you 
will  spare  the  lives  of  my  three  companions, 


The  Enemy  Reinforced.  99 

I  will  cross  the  river  alone  and  unarmed,  and 
bring  you  my  scalp  fresh  on  my  head.  That 
will  tempt  him/'  concluded  poor  Eedwood  in 
a  lower  tone. 

"  But  are  you  mad,  Eedwood  ?"  cried  Pepe, 
bounding  like  a  wounded  tiger. 

The  Indian  had  maintained  silence,  doubt 
less  to  consider.  A  brief  instant  of  silence 
prevailed ;  then  it  was  broken  by  his  reply. 

"Black  Bird  wished  the  Northern  white 
to  ask  for  life,  and  instead  he  asks  for 
death.  They  can  not  come  to  an  understand 
ing.  This  is  what  I  desire :  let  the  Northern 
man  leave  his  companions,  and  I  swear  to 
him  on  the  honor  of  a  warrior,  on  the  bones 
of  my  fathers,  that  his  life  shall  be  spared, 
but  only  his ;  the  other  three  must  die." 

Eedwood  scorned  to  reply  to  this  offer,  still 
more  insulting  than  that  of  joining  Black 
Bird  against  the  Mexicans.  The  Indian 


100  The  Enemy  Reinforced. 

chief  waited  in  vain  for  the  Canadian  either 
to  reject  or  accept  his  proposition.  At  last 
he  went  on  speaking: 

"  From  now  to  the  hour  of  torture  the 
whites  are  listening  for  the  last  time  to  the 
voice  of  a  chief.  My  warriors  surround  the 
islet,  as  the  river  does,  on  its  four  sides. 
Indian  blood  has  been  spilled,  it  must  be 
avenged;  the  blood  of  the  whites  must  flow 
in  return.  But  the  Indian  does  not  desire 
that  blood  heated  by  the  ardor  of  the  fight ; 
he  wants  it  chilled  with  terror,  impoverished 
by  hunger.  He  will  take  the  whites  alive; 
and  then,  when  he  has  them  in  his  clutches, 
no  longer  like  warriors,  but  like  hungry  dogs 
yelping  after  a  bone  of  dried  buffalo,  then 
the  Indian  will  see  what  men  imbruted  by 
fear  and  privation  have  in  their  entrails ;  he 
will  make  a  saddle  for  his  war-horse  out  of 
their  skin,  and  each  of  their  scalps  will  hang 


The  Enemy  Reinforced.  101 

from  his  crupper  and  his  stirrups  as  trophies 
of  his  vengeance.  My  warriors  will  surround 
the  island  for  fifteen  days  and  as  many 
nights,  if  necessary,  to  seize  the  outcast  of 
the  white  race." 

Then,  after  these  terrible  threats,  the  In 
dian  disappeared  behind  the  trees  and  ceased 
speaking.  But  Pepe  was  unwilling  that  he 
should  believe  that  he  had  frightened  them, 
and  he  cried  out  with  as  much  coolness  .as 
the  boiling  rage  within  him  would  permit: 

"  Dog,  who  know  nothing  but  how  to  bark, 
the  whites  despise  your  idle  boasting;  the 
sight  of  their  skeletons  will  trouble  nothing 
but  your  dreams !  Jackal,  filthy  polecat,  I 
despise  you !  I — I — " 

But  rage  stifled  him,  and,  in  default  of 
words,  he  took  to  gestures,  and  made  at  Black 
Bird  the  most  insulting  one  that  he  could 
think  of. 


102  The  Enemy  Reinforced. 

A  burst  of  noisy  laughter  accompanied  this 
response  of  Pepe,  whom  this  outrageous  ges 
ture  had  quieted  a  little,  and  who,  content 
with  having  had  the  last  word,  now  sat  down 
satisfied.  As  to  Redwood,  all  he  saw  in  the 
Indian's  reply  was  the  rejection  of  his  heroic 
sacrifice. 

"  Ah !"  said  the  generous  old  man,  sighing, 
"  if  you  had  let  me  alone  I  would  have  ar 
ranged  all  that  to  the  general  satisfaction. 
Now  it  is  too  late ;  let  us  talk  no  more  about 
it" 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  FIRESHIP. 

THE  moon  had  now  gone  down ;  the  silence 
and  obscurity  which  everywhere  prevailed 
made  the  three  friends  feel  more  keenly  that, 
but  for  this  reinforcement  of  the  Indians, 
it  would  have  been  easy  for  them  to  gain  the 
opposite  bank,  even  though  carrying  in  their 
arms  the  mutilated  Mexican.  The  latter, 
insensible  to  all  around  him,  still  remained 
in  deep  stupor. 

"And  so,"  said  Pepe,  breaking  first 
the  mournful  silence  which  hung  over  them, 
"  we  have  fifteen  days  before  us.  It  is  true 
that  we  have  not  much  food.  Faith !  we  will 
fish  for  our  dinner  and  amuse  ourselves." 

But  Pepe's  pleasantries  were  not  sufficient 
103 


104  The  Fireship. 

to  smooth  away  the  wrinkles  from  the  anx 
ious  brow  of  the  Canadian. 

"  Let  us  try/'  said  he,  "  to  employ  usefully 
the  few  remaining  hours  before  daybreak." 

"  To  do  what  ?''  asked  Pepe. 

"  To  make  our  escape,  surely." 

"And  how?" 

"  Ah !  that  is  the  puzzle,"  replied  Redwood. 
"  I  suppose  you  can  swim,  Fabian  ?" 

"Like  a  fish." 

"  Well,  it  might  not  be  difficult  to  make  a 
hole  in  the  middle  of  this  islet  and  confide 
ourselves  to  the  current  through  that  open 
ing.  It  is  dark  enough  now  for  the  Indians, 
not  seeing  us  jump  into  the  river,  to  let  us 
gain  a  spot  at  a  distance  from  them.  Hold 
on,  I  am  going  to  experiment  before  trying 
the  plan." 

As  he  said  these  words  the  Canadian  tore 
up,  but  not  without  several  efforts,  one  of  the 


The  Fireship.  105 

willow  trunks  of  the  natural  raft  which 
served  them  as  a  refuge;  the  knotty  end  of 
this  trunk  imitated  pretty  well  the  form  of 
the  human  head.  The  old  hunter  laid  the 
piece  of  wood  cautiously  in  the  river,  and 
presently  the  black  mass  was  floating  gently 
in  the  current.  For  some  minutes  the  three 
friends  watched  its  silent  navigation,  and  it 
was  not  until  it  had  disappeared  in  the  dark 
ness  that  the  Canadian  spoke  again. 

"  You  see/'  said  he,  "  a  prudent  swimmer 
could  pass  as  unperceived  as  that  piece  of 
wood.  Not  an  Indian  has  budged." 

"  That  is  true/'  said  Pepe,  "  but  who  is 
to  assure  us  that  the  eye  of  an  Apache  cannot 
distinguish  a  man  from  a  stick  of  wood? 
And  there  is  a  man  among  us  who  cannot 
swim." 

"  Who  is  that?" 

The  Spaniard  pointed  at  the  wounded  man, 


106  The  Fireship. 

groaning  on  his  bed  of  pain,  as  if  his  guard 
ian  angel  were  warning  him  that  there  was  a 
question  of  abandoning  him  to  his  enemies. 

"What  does  it  matter?"  resumed  Red 
wood,  with  some  hesitation.  "  Is  the  life  of 
that  man  worth  as  much  as  ours?" 

"  No,"  replied  the  Spaniard ;  "  but  I,  who 
was  just  now  almost  determined  to  desert 
this  unfortunate,  believe  now  that  it  would 
be  cowardly." 

"That  man,"  added  Fabian,  "has  chil 
dren,  perhaps,  who  would  weep  for  their 
father  as  I  would  weep  for  mine  in  such  a 
case." 

"  It  would  not  be  right ;  it  would  bring  us 
bad  luck,  Redwood,"  went  on  the  Spaniard. 

The  superstitious  affection  of  the  Cana 
dian  took  alarm  at  these  words  of  his  com 
panion,  and  he  ceased  to  insist  on  the  sub 
ject;  but  he  went  on: 


The  Fireship.  107 

"  Well,  Fabian,  since  you  are  a  good  swim 
mer,  take  the  route  which  is  open  to  us. 
Pepe  and  I  will  stay  here  to  protect  this  man, 
and  if  we  die  here  it  will  be  as  victims  of 
duty  and  with  the  joy  of  knowing  that  you 
are  safe  and  sound." 

Fabian  shook  his  head  in  the  negative. 

"  I  tell  you  again,"  said  he,  "  that  I  do  not 
want  life  without  you  two,  and  shall  stay  with 
you." 

"  But  what  is  to  be  done  ?"  asked  the  Ca 
nadian,  sorrowfully. 

"  Let  us  look,"  said  Fabian  and  Pepe  at 
the  same  time. 

This  was,  unhappily,  one  of  those  cases 
where  all  human  resources  are  unavailing; 
one  of  those  desperate  situations  from  which 
none  but  a  power  above  that  of  man  could 
extricate  them.  In  vain  did  the  night  be 
come  darker  under  the  thickening  mist;  the 


108  The  Fireship. 

firm  resolution  not  to  desert  the  wounded 
man  opposed  an  insurmountable  obstacle  to 
the  escape  of  the  three  hunters.  Presently 
the  fires  lighted  on  all  sides  by  the  Indians 
on  both  banks  of  the  river  threw  a  red  light 
on  the  waters,  which  illuminated  the  course 
of  the  stream  for  a  considerable  distance. 

With  this  light  the  last  plan  proposed  by 
the  Canadian  became  impossible,  even  had 
they  wished  to  try  it;  but  none  of  them 
thought  of  it  any  longer.  With  the  excep 
tion  of  the  fires,  which  colored  the  river,  one 
would  have  thought,  judging  from  the  per 
fect  quiet  reigning  on  either  bank,  that  they 
were  entirely  deserted,  for  no  enemy  was 
risible  near  the  fires,  and  no  human  voice 
disturbed  the  silence  of  the  night. 

Meantime  the  vapors  rising  from  the  bosom 
of  the  river  began  gradually  to  condense  and 
close  around  the  islet.  The  banks  of  the 


The  Fireship.  109 

stream  seemed  more  and  more  distant,  then 
disappeared  entirely,  and  soon  the  fires 
showed  merely  as  pale  and  indistinct  gleams 
beneath  the  vague  and  vaporous  outline  of 
the  trees. 

While  the  impressive  silence  of  night  over 
spread  all  nature,  sleep  fled  from  the  three 
hunters. 

If  there  are  frightful  moments  in  life  when 
the  bravest  men  can  lose  heart,  assuredly  this 
was  one  of  them.  Besides  the  fact  that  the 
danger  Was  terrible,  inevitable,  it  did  not 
afford  even  the  supreme  and  final  consolation 
of  a  chance  to  sell  life  as  dearly  as  possible. 

Hemmed  in  by  enemies  whom  the  trees  on 
the  bank  concealed  from  their  view,  the  three 
hunters  could  not  even  rouse  them  to  fury, 
as  they  had  done  in  the  evening,  by  bringing 
some  of  them  down  with  their  bullets. 
Moreover,  Eedwood  and  the  Spaniard  knew 


110  The  Fireship. 

too  well  the  stubborn  obstinacy  of  the  In 
dians  to  hope  that,  growing  weary  of  a  long 
blockade,  Black  Bird  would  permit  his  war 
riors  to  respond  to  their  attacks  and  make 
them  succumb  to  a  murderous  fire. 

The  death  of  soldiers  on  a  field  of  battle 
would  have  seemed  too  gentle  for  the  hatred 
of  the  Apache  chief.  He  wanted  his  enemies 
alive,  with  both  soul  and  body  weakened  by 
hunger. 

Affected  by  these  gloomy  thoughts,  the 
hunters  ceased  talking,  but  they  resigned 
themselves  to  their  fate  rather  than  think 
of  abandoning  the  wounded  man  in  order  to 
make  a  descent  on  one  or  the  other  bank. 
Fabian  was  as  resolved  to  die  as  his  com 
panions  ;  his  blasted  hopes,  the  profound  dis 
couragement  which  had  taken  possession  of 
him,  robbed  death  of  some  of  its  usual  ter 
rors;  nevertheless  the  warmth  of  his  blood 


The  Fireship.  Ill 

would  have  made  him  prefer  a  speedy  death, 
with  arms  in  his  hands,  to  the  slow  and 
ignominious  one  awaiting  him  at  the  stake 
of  the  Indians.  He  resolved  to  be  the  first 
to  break  the  deathlike  silence  which  brooded 
above  the  island  amidst  the  nocturnal  mist 
and  gloom. 

To  the  experienced  eyes  of  the  Canadian 
and  the  Spaniard  the  profound  tranquillity 
of  the  river  and  its  banks  was  but  another 
indication  of  the  invincible  resolution  of 
their  enemies;  but  to  Fabian  it  seemed  a 
reassuring  symptom,  a  favor  from  heaven  by 
which  they  ought  to  profit. 

"  Everything  sleeps  all  around  us,"  said 
he ;  "  not  merely  the  Indians  on  the  bank, 
but  everything  that  has  life  in  the  woods  and 
deserts;  even  the  current  of  the  river  seems 
more  sluggish.  See,  the  reflections  of  the 
fires  are  dying  far  away  from  us.  Would 


112  The  Fireship. 

not  this  be  the  time  to  effect  a  descent  on  one 
or  the  other  of  the  two  banks  ?" 

"  The  Indians  sleeping !"  interrupted 
Pepe,  bitterly;  "yes,  like  this  water  which 
seems  stagnant,  and  which  all  the  same  pur 
sues  its  course  to  the  unknown  gulfs  into 
which  it  will  be  lost.  You  would  not  have 
made  three  steps  in  the  river  before  you 
would  see  the  Indians  springing  in  after  you, 
as  you  just  now  saw  the  wolves  do  in  pursuit 
of  the  deer.  Haven't  you  anything  better 
to  suggest,  Redwood?" 

"  No,"  replied  the  Canadian,  briefly,  while 
his  hand  was  seeking  that  of  Fabian;  then, 
with  the  other  he  pointed  at  the  wounded 
man,  who  was  writhing,  even  though  still 
asleep,  on  his  bed  of  anguish.  This  gesture 
replied  to  all  Fabian's  objections. 

"But,  in  default  of  any  other  chance," 
pursued  the  latter,  "  we  should  at  least  have 


The  Fireship.  113 

that  of  dying  with  honor,  and  side  by  side, 
as  we  wish  to  die.  If  we  are  victors,  we 
could  come  to  the  help  of  this  poor  fellow, 
who  has  no  other  defenders.  If  we  are  over 
come,  could  God  Himself  reproach  us  when 
we  appear  before  Him  with  having  sacrificed 
the  life  of  the  man  He  had  confided  to  our 
care  when  we  had  exposed  our  own  in  the 
interest  of  all?" 

"  No,  certainly  not,"  replied  Redwood ; 
"  but  let  us  still  hope  in  that  God  who  has  re 
united  us  by  a  miracle ;  what  does  not  hap 
pen  to-day  may  happen  to-morrow ;  we  have 
still  time  to  spare  between  now  and  the  ex 
haustion  of  our  supply  of  provisions.  To 
land  at  any  place  on  the  shore  would  be  to 
go  to  certain  death,  since  the  number  of  In 
dians  is  probably  more  than  tripled.  Dying 
would  be  nothing.  But  we  would  probably 
be  made  prisoners,  and  I  tremble  at  the 


114  The  Fireship. 

thought  of  the  horrible  agony  to  which  they 
mean  to  subject  us.  Oh !  my  beloved  Fabian, 
the  intention  of  these  Indians  to  take  us 
alive,  at  least  prolongs  for  a  few  days  my 
happiness  in  being  near  you." 

Silence  reigned  once  more  over  the  dis 
mayed  group.  This  idea  of  living  near  his 
child  a  while  longer  was  to  the  Canadian  like 
the  respite  granted  to  the  condemned  before 
execution;  but  presently,  as  also  happens  to 
that  unfortunate,  who,  when  he  remembers 
that  the  fatal  moment  is  merely  deferred, 
shakes  the  bars  of  his  dungeon  in  his  rage, 
so  Redwood,  anticipating  in  imagination  the 
terrible  day  of  the  denouement,  shook  convul 
sively  one  of  the  tree-trunks  against  which 
he  was  leaning.  Under  his  powerful  clasp 
the  islet  trembled  as  if  it  were  about  to  be 
wrested  from  its  foundations. 

"  Ah !    the  dogs !    the  devils !"  exclaimed 


The  Fireship.  115 

at  the  same  moment  the  Spaniard,  who  could 
not  repress  a  cry  of  rage.  "  Look !" 

A  reddish  gleam  penetrated  insensibly  the 
veil  of  mist  extended  above  the  river,  and 
seemed  to  advance,  growing  larger  as  it  came, 
like  the  reflection  of  a  fire  which  is  increas 
ing. 

And,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  fire 
glided  on  the  waters. 

In  spite  of  the  mist  from  the  river,  so 
thick  that  it  might  almost  be  felt,  the  mass 
of  fire  carried  by  the  stream  dispelled  it  as 
the  sun  dispels  the  clouds. 

The  three  hunters  had  scarcely  time  to  be 
surprised  by  the  apparition  of  thig  sudden 
light  before  they  had  comprehended  its  cause. 

Long  experience  in  the  life  of  the  wilder 
ness  and  its  incessantly  repeated  dangers 
had  given  the  Canadian  a  firmness  of  muscle 
which  the  Spaniard  had  not  yet  attained. 


116  The  Fireship. 

Instead  of  yielding  to  a  transport  of  rage, 
as  Pepe  had  done,  Eedwood  preserved  his 
usual  calmness. 

He  knew  that  a  danger  which  one  faces 
with  coolness  is  already  half  surmounted, 
frightful  as  it  may  appear,  and  Ms  presence 
of  mind  generally  became  redoubled  in  case 
of  peril. 

"  Yes,"  said  he,  in  reply  to  Pepe's  excla 
mation,  "I  see  what  it  is  as  well  as  if  the 
Indians  had  told  me  beforehand.  You  spoke 
just  now  of  foxes  smoked  out  of  their  hole; 
well,  those  rascals  mean  to  burn  us  in  ours." 

Meanwhile  the  globe  of  fire  floating  on  the 
river  was  increasing  with  frightful  rapidity, 
and  thus  confirming  the  truth  of  the  Cana 
dian's  words.  Already,  amidst  the  waters 
empurpled  by  the  flame,  the  rushes  and 
young  osiers,  which  formed  the  cincture  of 
the  islet,  were  becoming  distinct. 


The  FiresMp.  117 

"  It  is  a  fireship,"  said  Pepe,  "  with  which 
they  mean  to  ignite  our  isle." 

"  God  he  thanked!"  added  Fabian;  "  it  is 
far  better  to  fight  fire  than  to  await  death  in 
this  way  without  a  struggle." 

"  That  is  true,"  said  Kedwood,  "  but  fire 
is  a  terrible  adversary,  and  it  fights  for  those 
devils." 

In  this  case  the  besieged  could  offer  no  op 
position  to  the  devouring  action  of  the  flame, 
and  would  have  no  chance  of  escaping  the  fire 
except  by  jumping  into  the  water.  And  then 
it  would  be  for  the  Indians  to  decide  whether 
to  finish  them  at  once  with  their  rifles  or  to 
take  them  alive. 


CHAPTEE  VIII. 

A  BRILLIANT  IDEA. 

SUCH  had  been  the  calculation  of  the  In 
dian  who  had  directed  this  manoeuver.  By 
his  order  the  Apaches  had  cut  down  a  tree 
still  in  full  leaf;  a  thick  layer  of  moistened 
weeds  interlaced  between  its  branches  formed 
a  sort  of  floor  on  which  had  been  piled  all 
it  would  hold  of  branches  stripped  from  a 
resinous  pine.  After  setting  fire  to  this  in 
cendiary  machine,  it  had  been  entrusted  to 
the  current  of  the  stream  and  headed  in  tke 
direction  of  the  little  islet. 

The  raft  advanced,  the  crackling  of  the 
resinous  wood  already  began  to  be  heard,  and 
under  a  canopy  of  black  smoke,  which  rose 

in  air  and  mingled  with  the  fog,  shone  a 
118 


A  Brilliant  Idea.  119 

flame  which  constantly  increased.  Not  far 
from  the  bank  one  caught  from  time  to  time 
a  glimpse  of  the  red  profile  of  an  Indian 
sentinel. 

Pepe  could  not  resist  a  sudden  temptation. 

"Hold  on,  imp  of  hell!"  said  he  in  an 
undertone ;  "  you  at  least  will  never  tell  the 
story  in  your  village  of  the  last  moments 
of  the  death  agony  of  a  Christian." 

As  he  said  these  words  the  rifle  barrel  of 
the  angry  Spaniard  gleamed  red  through  the 
rushes,  and  they  saw  the  Indian's  war  plumes 
sink  down  at  the  same  moment  that  the  dis 
charge  of  the  fire-arm  disturbed  the  long- 
unbroken  silence  of  the  night. 

"  Tardy  and  mournful  vengeance !"  said 
Eedwood,  solemnly,  as  he  saw  the  Indian  fall. 

And,  in  fact,  as  if  the  Apaches  despised  the 
blows  of  a  vanquished  enemy,  the  bank  still 
remained  in  profound  silence  without  a  single 


120  A  Brilliant  Idea. 

yell  accompanying,  as  is  usual,  the  death 
throes  of  a  warrior. 

The  flame  of  the  burning  fagots,  now  not 
far  away,  and  in  a  direct  line  with  their  islet, 
showed  the  features  of  the  Spaniard  con 
vulsed  with  helpless  fury. 

"Demonio!"  he  exclaimed,  stamping  his 
foot,  "  I  shall  die  more  easily  now  that  I  have 
sent  before  me  into  the  other  world  one  of 
those  redskinned  devils."  And  still  clasp 
ing  his  rifle,  his  eye  sought  in  every  direc 
tion  on  either  bank  another  victim  to  sac 
rifice  to  his  need  of  vengeance. 

The  Canadian,  meanwhile,  was  coolly 
watching  the  mass  of  fire  which,  on  going 
aground  on  the  islet  must  enkindle  its  dry 
branches. 

"  Well !"  exclaimed  Pepe,  whose  rage 
blinded  his  judgment,  "it  is  all  very  fine 
to  be  studying  that  firebrand,  but  can  you 


A  Brilliant  Idea.  121 

turn  it  out  of  its  course  before  it  fastens  on 
the  sides  of  the  islet  ?" 

"  Perhaps,"  said  the  Canadian,  briefly, 
still  continuing  his  examination. 

Pepe  began  whistling  through  his  teeth 
with  an  air  of  indifference,  by  which  he 
sought  to  conceal  his  anger. 

"  Look  here,"  resumed  Eedwood ;  "  I  per 
ceive  something  which  convinces  me  that  the 
reasoning  of  these  sons  of  the  forest  is  not  in 
fallible,  and  if  it  were  not  that  we  shall  pres 
ently  be  under  a  rain  of  bullets  and  arrows  to 
force  us  to  lie  still,  and  prevent  us  from 
pushing  away  their  torch,  I  would  care  as 
little  for  that  flaming  raft  as  for  a  firefly 
floating  in  the  air." 

In  constructing  the  sort  of  flooring  of 
dampened  weeds  of  which  we  have  spoken, 
the  Indians  had  calculated  its  thickness  so 
as  to  ensure  that  it  would  be  dried  by  con- 


122  A  Brilliant  Idea. 

tact  with  the  fire  above  and  become  en 
kindled,  along  with  the  branches  of  the  tree 
supporting  it,  almost  at  the  moment  when  the 
whole  mass  would  run  aground  against  the 
islet. 

But  the  weeds  plunged  often  into  the 
water,  and  the  moisture  in  which  it  was  im 
mersed  every  moment  had  delayed  its  com 
bustion;  nor  had  the  large  branches  of  the 
tree  had  time  to  take  fire,  which  had  acted 
solely  on  the  smaller  branches  and  the 
foliage. 

This  circumstance  had  not  escaped  the 
keen  eye  of  the  Canadian,  who,  taking  a 
long  pole  in  his  hand,  resolved  to  scatter  the 
weeds  and  prevent  them  from  igniting; 
but  at  the  very  moment  when  he  was  about 
to  risk  this  dangerous  attempt,  what  he  had 
foreseen  occurred. 

Several     bullets     and     arrows     .whistled 


A  Brilliant  Idea.  123 

through  the  narrow  space  now  left  vacant 
between  the  islet  and  the  firebrand.  They 
seemed  intended  rather  to  alarm  the  hunters 
than  to  strike  them. 

"  They  are  determined,"  said  Redwood,  in 
an  undertone,  "  not  to  take  us  except  alive ; 
well,  it  is  a  risk  to  run." 

The  burning  mass  was  almost  touching  the 
islet;  in  a  few  moments  more  the  flame 
would  devour  it.  A  hot  vapor  already  en 
veloped  its  inmates  when,  with  the  swiftness 
of  lightning,  the  Canadian  slipped  into  the 
water  and  disappeared  altogether. 

Yells  proceeded  from  the  two  banks  of  the 
river,  and  the  Indians  as  well  as  the  Spaniard 
and  Fabian,  who  remained  alone,  beheld  the 
floating  tree  rock  beneath  the  powerful 
pressure  exerted  on  it  by  the  Canadian.  The 
enormous  fireplace  threw  out  a  more  glowing 
light;  then  presently  the  water  hissed,  and 


124  A  Brilliant  Idea. 

the  mass  of  fire  fell  to  pieces  and  was  swaK 
lowed  up  in  a  cloud  of  foam. 

The  darkness  and  the  mist'  once  more 
spread  their  heavy  curtain  over  all  the  river. 

The  tree,  with  blackened  branches,  turned 
out  of  its  course,  passed  on,  rubbing  against 
the  rushes  of  the  islet,  while  amidst  the  yell 
ing  of  the  stupefied  Indians,  Kedwood  re 
joined  his  companions. 

The  islet  was  still  rocking  under  the  effort 
made  by  the  Canadian  to  get  a  foothold  on  it. 

"  Yell  away  at  your  ease,"  said  Kedwood, 
on  recovering  his  breath ;  "  you  have  not  got 
us  yet ;  but,"  he  added,  in  a  whisper,  "  shall 
we  always  be  as  lucky  ?" 

In  fact,  though  this  danger  was  averted, 
how  many  more  had  they  not  still  to  con 
quer?  Who  could  foresee  what  new  strata 
gems  the  Indians  might  yet  employ  against 
them? 


A  Brilliant  Idea.  125 

These  reflections  soon  dispelled  the  first 
intoxication  of  triumph,  and  gloomy  silence 
succeeded  the  congratulations  offered  to  Red 
wood  by  the  two  hunters. 

All  of  a  sudden  Pepe  sprang  to  his  feet, 
stifling  a  cry,  and  this  time  it  was  a  cry  of 

joy- 

"  Redwood,  Fabian/'  he  exclaimed,  "  we 
are  saved ;  I  will  answer  for  that  myself." 

"  Saved  I"  repeated  the  Canadian,  in  a 
trembling  tone.  "  Oh !  speak,  Pepe,  speak 
quickly." 

"  Did  you  not  notice,"  continued  the  Span 
iard,  "how  the  islet  trembled  under  our 
hands  a  few  hours  ago  when  we  pulled  out 
some  large  branches  for  our  fortification? 
Do  you  not  remember,  Redwood,  how  you 
made  it  shake  just  now?  Well,  I  had 
thought  of  making  a  raft  of  the  trunks  that 
are  beneath  our  feet,  but  now  I  give  it  up; 


126  A  Brilliant  Idea. 

there  are  three  of  us;  we  can  by  main  force 
detach  the  islet  itself  and  set  it  afloat.  The 
fog  is  thick,  the  night  is  dark,  and  to 
morrow,  when  day  dawns — ' 

"  We  shall  be  far  away  from  here,"  cried 
Redwood.  "  To  work !  to  work !  The 
freshening  wind  indicates  the  approach  of 
morning;  we  have  not  too  much  time  before 
us.  If  I  have  not  lost  my  sailor's  eye,  the  river 
will  not  take  us  more  than  three  knots  an 
hour." 

"  So  much  the  better,"  said  Pepe,  "  the 
displacement  will  not  be  so  visible." 

The  brave  Canadian  only  took  time  enough 
to  shake  hands  with  his  two  companions  be 
fore  rising  to  his  feet. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  ?"  asked 
Fabian.  "  Cannot  we  three  root  up  the  islet 
by  our  combined  efforts,  as  Pepe  proposed?" 

"  Root  it  up,  without  a  doubt,  Fabian ;  but 


A  Brilliant  Idea.  127 

we  also  run  the  risk  of  scattering  like  a  fagot 
when  its  rope  is  broken,  and  our  safety  de 
pends  on  preserving  the  islet  just  as  nature 
has  made  it.  There  is  perhaps  some  parent 
branch,  or  some  great  root  anchored  at  the 
bottom  of  the  river  which  holds  it  in  place. 
Many  years  must  have  elapsed  since  these 
trees  were  wrecked  here,  to  judge  from  the 
earth  that  has  formed  over  them.  The 
water  ought,  in  the  long  run,  to  have  rotted 
that  branch  or  that  root,  and  that  is  what  I 
mean  to  make  sure  of." 

At  this  moment  the  lugubrious  voice  of 
a  night  bird  interrupted  the  Canadian. 
These  plaintive  notes,  which  suddenly  dis 
turbed  the  silence  of  the  night  at  the  very 
moment  when  a  ray  of  hope  had  shone  upon 
the  hunters,  sounded  in  the  Spaniard's  ears 
as  a  fatal  omen. 

"Ah!"  said  Pepe,  in  whom  danger  re- 


128  A  Brilliant  Idea. 

vived  superstitious  notions,  "  the  hoot  of  an 
owl  at  such  a  time  means  no  good." 

"  It  is  a  perfect  imitation,  I  grant  you," 
replied  Eedwood ;  "  but  you  should  not  allow 
yourself  to  be  deceived  in  that  way.  It  is 
an  Indian  sentinel  who  is  either  warning  his 
companions  to  keep  their  eyes  open,  or  else, 
which  is  more  like  their  diabolical  wicked 
ness,  notifying  us  that  we  are  under  inspec 
tion.  It  is  a  sort  of  death-song  with  which 
they  are  regaling  us." 

The  Canadian  had  barely  concluded  when 
the  same  harmony  was  repeated  from  the 
other  bank  with  modulations  sometimes  de 
risive,  sometimes  gloomy,  which  exactly  con 
firmed  the  supposition  of  the  old  hunter. 
But  these  voices  were  none  the  less  alarming, 
since  they  revealed  all  the  perils  and  am 
bushes  hidden  by  the  darkness  of  this  mo 
mentous  night. 


A  Brilliant  Idea.  129 

"  I  long  to  shout  to  them  to  roar  instead, 
like  the  tigers  that  they  are,"  said  Pepe. 

"  Take  good  care  not  to  do  it,  for  it  would 
reveal  to  them  just  where  we  are.  The  ras 
cals  know  it  quite  too  well  already." 

While  saying  this,  Redwood  entered  the 
water  with  the  greatest  precautions.  It  was 
not  without  anxiety  that  the  two  who  re 
mained  behind  followed  with  their  eyes  the 
researches  of  the  Canadian.  The  latter, 
sunk  down  in  the  water,  sometimes  disap 
peared  entirely  from  the  surface,  like  a  diver 
seeking  along  the  sides  of  a  vessel  for  the 
leak  which  threatens  to  wreck  it  and  bring  it 
to  destruction. 

"  Well,"  asked  Pepe  quickly,  when  the  Ca 
nadian  came  up  to  take  breath,  "are  we 
moored  on  several  anchors  ?" 

"  Everything  is  going  on  well,  I  think,"  re 
plied  Redwood ;  "  I  see  only  one  at  present 


13»  A  Brilliant  Idea. 

which  keeps  the  island  in  place,  but  it  is  the 
anchor  of  mercy." 

"  Take  care  above  all  things  not  to  go  too 
far,"  cried  Fabian ;  "you  might  get  entangled 
under  the  roots  and  in  the  web  of  branches 
above  the  water." 

"  Have  no  fears,  my  child,"  answered  the 
Canadian.  "A  whale  might  get  stuck  on 
a  fishing  boat  which  it  could  send  flying 
twenty  feet  into  the  air  more  easily  than  I 
under  this  islet  which,  with  one  shove  of  my 
shoulders,  I  could  scatter  into  fragments/' 


CHAPTEK  IX. 

BETWEEN  HOPE  AND  DESPAIR. 

THE  river  boiled  once  more  over  the  head 
of  the  Canadian.  A  rather  long  time  elapsed, 
during  which,  as  if  Fabian's  fears  were  about 
to  be  realized,  the  presence  of  Eedwood  under 
the  water  was  made  visible  by  the  eddies 
formed  around  the  islet,  which  presently  be 
gan  rocking  on  its  base  like  a  vessel  in  the 
swell  of  the  sea.  One  felt  that  the  giant 
must  be  making  a  last  and  powerful  effort. 
Fabian's  heart  contracted  for  an  instant  in 
his  breast  at  the  thought  that  Redwood  was 
perhaps  struggling  against  death,  and  then 
a  heavy  crack,  like  that  of  the  timbers  of  a 
vessel  going  to  pieces  on  a  rock,  made  itself 
heard  beneath  his  feet. 

131 


132  Between  Hope  and  Despair. 

At  the  same  instant  the  Canadian  came 
again  to  the  surface,  his  hair  streaming  with 
water  and  his  face  inflamed  with  the  blood 
that  had  rushed  there  with  violence.  With 
one  bound  he  regained  his  place  on  the  islet, 
which  began  to  revolve  gently  on  itself,  and 
then  to  follow  the  current  gently.  An 
enormous  root,  sunk  deeply  in  the  river-bed, 
had  broken  in  the  vigorous  hands  of  the 
Colossus  to  whom  despair  had  given  tenfold 
strength. 

"  God  be  praised !"  cried  he,  "  the  last  and 
inly  obstacle  which  detained  us  is  overcome, 
and  we  are  afloat/' 

In  fact,  while  he  was  speaking,  the  islet 
advanced,  urged  by  the  current,  almost  in 
sensibly,  it  is  true,  but  still  it  advanced. 

"Now,"  said  Redwood,  "our  lives  are  in 
the  hands  of  God.  If  the  islet  stays  in  the 
middle  of  the  river,  thanks  to  the  fog  which 


Between  Hope  and  Despair.  133 

covers  its  surface,  we  shall  soon  be  out  of 
sight  and  reach  of  the  Indians.  0  my 
God !"  he  cried,  with  fervor,  "  a  few  more 
hours  of  darkness  and  Thy  creatures  are 
saved !" 

The  three  hunters  kept  silence.  They 
were  watching  the  movements  of  the  floating 
islet  too  anxiously  to  exchange  a  single  word. 

Day  would  soon  break,  but  the  coolness  of 
the  night,  always  increased  an  hour  or  two 
before  sunrise,  condensed  still  more  heavily 
the  vapors  rising  from  the  river. 

The  fires  on  the  banks  now  appeared  only 
like  the  stars  which  grow  pale  in  the  firma 
ment  at  the  approach  of  dawn.  From  that 
quarter  the  danger  was  less,  and  the  chance 
of  escaping  the  notice  of  the  Indian  sentinels 
almost  certain;  but  another  peril  menaced 
the  three  hunters. 

The  floating  island,  no  matter  how  gently 


134  Between  Hope  and  Despair. 

it  was  drawn  along  by  the  current,  followed 
the  course  of  the  stream,  turning  as  it  went, 
and  it  was  to  be  feared  that  in  this  rotation 
it  might  deviate  from  the  straight  line  and 
run  ashore  on  one  of  the  banks.  The  In 
dians  occupied  both. 

Like  the  sailor  who,  with  anguished  eyes, 
follows  the  movements  of  his  vessel  disabled 
by  a  storm,  and  contemplates  with  alarm  the 
reefs  on  which  it  may  presently  be  tossed  by 
the  waves,  so  the  three  hunters,  tormented 
by  the  most  cruel  anxiety,  observed  in  gloomy 
silence  the  tortuous  and  uncertain  progress 
of  their  islet.  Sometimes  when  the  fringe 
of  reeds  and  rushes  which  encircled  it  shook 
under  a  light  breeze  coming  from  one  of  the 
shores,  it  seemed  to  incline  toward  the  oppo 
site  one  by  describing  a  large  circle;  some 
times,  also,  when  seized  by  one  of  the  cur 
rents  formed  by  the  inequalities  of  the  river- 


Between  Hope  and  Despair.  135 

bed,  and  obliged  to  follow  the  impulse  re 
ceived,  it  advanced  in  a  straight  line;  but, 
in  either  case,  the  efforts  of  those  upon  it 
could  not  give  it  a  direction.  Fortunately, 
the  fog  was  so  heavy  that  even  the  trees 
which  shaded  the  banks  ceased  to  be  visible. 

"  Courage,"  said  Pepe ;  "  so  long  as  we  do 
not  see  the  trees,  it  is  a  sign  that  we  are  in 
the  right  way.  Oh!  if  God  continues  to 
favor  us,  plenty  of  yelling  will  echo  along 
these  peaceful  shores  when  day  breaks  and 
the  Indians  find  neither  the  islet  nor  those 
whom  it  sheltered." 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  old  hunter,  "  that  was  a 
brilliant  idea,  Pepe;  in  my  trouble  it  never 
occurred  to  me ;  such  a  simple  idea !" 

"  Those  are  always  the  last  that  come  to 
the  mind ;  but  do  you  know  what  that  proves, 
Redwood?"  he  added  in  the  ear  of  his  com 
panion;  "it  is  that  in  the  wilderness  the 


136  Between  Hope  and  Despair. 

fear  of  death  is  already  a  serious  preoccupa 
tion,  and  that  it  is  imprudent  to  run  risks 
there  long  with  those  whom  one  loves  better 
than  life;  this  new  risk  exposes  a  man  to 
losing  all  his  resources.  I  tell  you  frankly, 
Redwood,  for  some  time  past  I  scarcely  know 
you." 

"True;  I  scarcely  know  myself,"  replied 
the  Canadian,  simply,  "  and  yet — " 

Redwood  did  not  finish,  for  a  profound 
reverie  took  possession  of  him,  during  which, 
like  a  man  whose  body  is  present  while  his 
soul  is  absent,  he  seemed  no  longer  to  observe 
the  movements  of  the  floating  island.  It  was 
because  to  the  hunter  who  for  twenty  years 
had  lived  in  the  boundless  liberty  of  the 
deserts,  to  renounce  that  life  was  equivalent 
to  death;  to  give  up  seeing  Fabian  every 
day,  and  the  consolation  of  feeling  his 
adopted  son  close  his  eyes  in  their  last  sleep, 


Between  Hope  and  Despair.  137 

was  likewise  to  bid  farewell  to  happiness. 
Fabian  and  the  desert  were  the  two  dominant 
affections  of  his  life;  to  abandon  either 
seemed  impossible.  In  the  hunter's  soul 
there  was  going  on  a  struggle  between  the 
civilized  man  and  the  man  whom  long  habit 
had  rendered  almost  savage. 

It  was  not  long  before  Pepe  interrupted 
the  reverie  of  the  Canadian.  For  some  min 
utes  the  former  had  been  looking  with 
greater  anxiety  in  the  direction  of  one  of  the 
banks.  Through  the  veil  of  mist  it  seemed 
to  him  that  he  caught  indistinctly  the  white 
and  fantastic  shapes  assumed  by  trees 
through  the  fog.  They  were  like  phantoms, 
vague  as  yet,  covered  with  a  long  drapery  of 
vapor,  which  seemed  to  be  bending  in  grief 
above  the  river. 

"  We  are  deviating  from  our  course,  Red 
wood,"  said  Pepe,  in  a  low  tone;  "those 


138  Between  Hope  and  Despair. 

waving  mists  which  seem  thicker  yonder 
must  be  the  tops  of  the  willows  on  the  bank." 

"That  is  true/'  answered  the  Canadian, 
H  resting  his  mind  from  its  meditations ;  "  it 
is  easy  to  see  what  little  headway  we  have 
made  for  the  last  half  hour  by  noticing  the 
fires  still  burning  to  right  and  left  of  us." 

At  this  point  the  floating  islet  seemed  to 
receive  a  more  rapid  impetus.  In  a  few 
seconds  it  described  two  of  the  circles  which 
hitherto  had  occupied  a  much  longer  time, 
and  the  tops  of  the  distant  trees  soon 
became  less  indistinct.  The  two  hunters 
exchanged  an  anxious  glance. 

The  raft  was  still  moving  toward  the 
bank.  One  of  the  fires  which  but  just  now 
shed  only  a  pale  gleam  through  the  mist 
gradually  increased  its  luster  before  the  eyes 
of  the  trembling  Redwood. 

Already  they  could  see  one  of  the  Indian 


Between  Hope  and  Despair,  139 

warriors  standing  erect  and  motionless  in  his 
frightful  war  costume.  The  long  mane  of  a 
bison  covered  his  head,  and  above  it  a  tuft 
of  feathers  undulated  like  the  crest  of  a 
Roman  helmet. 

The  Canadian  directed  Pepe's  attention  by 
a  movement  of  his  finger  to  the  warrior  rest 
ing  on  his  lance.  Happily,  the  fog  was  too 
thick  for  the  Apache,  whom  his  fire  alone 
rendered  visible,  to  perceive  as  yet  the  dark 
mass  of  the  islet,  floating  as  softly  as  a 
water-bird  on  the  surface  of  the  river. 

However,  as  if  instinct  warned  the  savage 
that  the  intrepidity  and  skill  of  his  enemies 
were  about  to  defeat  his  vigilance,  he  raised 
his  head  and  shook  the  floating  mane  with 
which  it  was  adorned. 

"  Could  he  have  suspected  anything  ?"  said 
the  Canadian  to  Pepe. 

"  Ah !   if  a  rifle  made  no  more  noise  than 


140  Between  Hope  and  Despair. 

an  arrow,  how  quickly  I  would  send  that 
human  bison  to  mount  guard  in  the  other 
world!"  replied  the  Spaniard. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  hunters  saw  the 
Indian  warrior  thrust  the  lance  on  which  he 
was  resting  into  the  ground,  lean  forward, 
and  arch  his  two  hands  above  his  eyes  as  if  to 
concentrate  their  piercing  glances. 

A  dart  of  anguish  transfixed  the  hearts  of 
the  fugitives,  who,  for  an  instant,  remained 
breathless  at  the  aspect  of  the  Indian. 

The  ferocious  warrior,  bent  double,  like  a 
wild  beast  lying  in  wait  for  its  prey,  his  face 
half  covered  with  the  long  locks  of  his  head 
dress,  was  hideous  and  terrible  to  behold. 
A  man  of  ordinary  courage  could  not  see  him 
without  a  shudder. 

But  the  three  fugitives  would  have  scorned 
this  frightful  apparition  as  if  it  had  been 
that  of  a  child,  if,  in  this  critical  moment, 


Between  Hope  and  Despair.  141 

a  child  would  not  have  been  as  much  to  be 
dreaded  as  an  Indian. 

In  the  midst  of  the  heavy  fog,  the  fire  near 
which  the  savage  watched  illuminated  only 
a  narrow  circle. 

All  oi  a  sudden  the  Apache,  after  remain 
ing  for  some  instants  in  the  attitude  of  a 
man  who  seeks  to  distinguish  a  distant  ob 
ject  in  the  dark,  made  two  or  three  steps  in 
the  direction  of  the  river  and  disappeared. 

This  was  a  moment  of  the  keenest  anxiety, 
for  night  now  concealed  the  movements  of 
the  Indian. 

The  fugitives  held  their  breath  and  con 
tinued  to  glide  silently  over  the  surface  of 
the  stream. 

"  Could  the  demon  have  seen  us  ?"  whis 
pered  Pepe  in  the  Canadian's  ear. 

"  It  is  to  be  feared,"  replied  Kedwood. 

A  mournful  cry  made  the  hunters  tremble, 


142  Between  Hope  and  Despair. 

and  this  cry  was  repeated  on  both  shores; 
they  were  the  signals  sent  by  the  sentinels 
to  each  other  in  imitation  of  the  notes  of 
nocturnal  birds.       Then  all  became  silent 
once  more. 

Eedwood  at  last  gave  a  sigh  of  relief,  and 
pointed  out  to  Fabian  the  fire  burning  on  the 
bank.  The  Indian  had  just  returned  to  his 
post  and  was  leaning  on  his  lance  in  his  for 
mer  attitude. 

This  had  been  a  false  alarm,  but  neverthe 
less  the  islet  was  still  approaching  the  river 
bank. 

"  If  this  goes  on,"  said  Kedwood,  "  within 
ten  minutes  we  shall  tumble  into  the  bivouac 
of  that  devil  of  an  Indian.  Ah !  if  we  could 
paddle  a  little  with  the  help  of  this  big 
branch,  we  should  soon  get  back  into  the 
right  way  again,  but  the  noise  of  the  water 
would  betray  us." 


Between  Hope  and  Despair.  143 

"  And  yet  it  is  the  thing  we  ought  to  do ; 
perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  run  the  risk  of 
betrayal  than  to  deliver  ourselves  into  the 
hands  of  our  enemies.  But  first,  let  us  see 
whether  the  current  we  are  in  really  sets  to 
ward  the  shore;  if  it  does,  we  must  hesitate 
no  longer,  and,  although  the  branch  of  a  tree 
makes  more  noise  in  the  water  than  an  oar 
wrapped  in  a  cloth,  you  must  do  your  best 
to  paddle  silently." 

As  he  finished  this  advice,  Pepe  softly 
broke  in  two  a  piece  of  dead  wood  and  flung 
it  into  the  river.  Leaning  over  the  edge, 
Pepe  and  Kedwood  watched  the  direction  the 
wood  might  take.  There  was  just  there  a 
violent  eddy  caused  by  some  deep  hole  in  the 
river-bed. 

For  an  instant  the  piece  of  wood  whirled 
round  as  it  were  about  to  be  swallowed  up, 
then  it  suddenly  took  a  direction  away  from 


144  Between  Hope  and  Despair. 

the  bank.  The  two  hunters  gave  a  sigh  of 
satisfaction,  then  an  exclamation  of  silent 
joy,  very  soon  succeeded  by  a  glance  of  con 
sternation.  The  branch,  repelled  by  some 
under-current,  suddenly  floated  toward  the 
shore.  There  was  no  room  for  misapprehen 
sion;  the  fate  of  the  islet  would  be  that  of 
the  piece  of  wood,  which  served  it  as  pre 
cursor. 

The  floating  islet  seemed,  in  fact,  to  re 
main  motionless  for  an  instant ;  but  obeying, 
nevertheless,  the  impulsion  of  the  first  cur 
rent,  it  soon  began  to  move  away  again  from 
the  shore.  The  curtain  of  mist,  uniformly 
condensed  to  right  and  left,  proved  to  the  re 
assured  hunters  that  the  raft  had  resumed  a 
favorable  direction. 


CHAPTER  X. 

SAVED ! 

ABOUT  an  hour  passed  in  this  way  between 
piercing  alternatives  of  hope  and  fear ;  then 
the  Indian  fires  began  to  be  lost  in  distance 
and  in  mist;  the  fugitives  were  almost  be 
yond  the  reach  of  danger.  Yet  they  must 
still  assist  themselves. 

Reassured  by  the  distance  gained,  the 
Canadian  went  to  the  rear  of  the  islet  and 
paddled  vigorously  with  the  branch  of  a  tree. 

Like  a  horse  long  abandoned  to  his  own 
caprices,  but  feeling  at  last  the  hand  and 
spur  of  a  skilful  rider,  the  floating  islet 
ceased  turning  round,  and  followed  the  cur 
rent  more  rapidly.  Kept  by  the  Canadian 

in  the  deepest  water,  it  soon  traversed  a  con- 
145 


146  Saved! 

siderable  distance.  Thenceforward  the  three 
friends  might  consider  themselves  safer  at 
least,  if  not  altogether  safe. 

"  Day  will  soon  break  now,*'  said  Eed- 
wood ;  "  we  must  land  on  one  side  or  the 
other,  for  we  shall  go  twice  as  fast  on  foot 
as  on  this  raft,  which  moves  slower  than  a 
Dutch  howker,  which  is  saying  a  great  deal." 

"Very  well,  land  where  you  like,  Red 
wood,"  responded  Pepe;  "then  from  there 
we  will  follow  the  water  course  on  foot,  to 
conceal  our  traces  from  the  Indians,  carry 
ing,  if  necessary,  the  wounded  man  in  our 
arms;  we  can  make  at  least  two  leagues  an 
hour.  Do  you  think,  Fabian,  that  the  Valley 
of  Gold  is  very  far  from  here?" 

"Like  me,"  replied  Fabian,  "you  have 
seen  the  sun  set  behind  the  Smoky  Moun 
tains,  which  conceal  the  Valley  of  Gold;  it 
ought  not  to  take  us  more  than  a  few  hours 


Saved!  147 

to  reach  it;  we  shall  doubtless  arrive  there 
before  day." 

Assisted  by  Pepe,  Eedwood  turned  the  raft 
obliquely  toward  the  left,  and  in  about  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  the  islet,  reaching  the 
bank,  struck  it  so  violently  that  a  large  crack 
appeared  in  the  middle.  While  Pepe  and 
Fabian  sprang  ashore  on  a  bank  where  there 
were  no  enemies,  the  Canadian  lifted  the 
still  motionless  Mexican  in  his  arms  and  laid 
him  on  the  grass.  The  wounded  man  awoke. 
At  sight  of  a  place  altogether  different  from 
that  where  he  had  gone  to  sleep,  and  the 
change  which  was  evident  in  spite  of  the 
darkness  and  the  mist,  he  looked  about  him 
in  amazement. 

"  Holy  Virgin !"  he  exclaimed,  "  must  I 
hear  again  those  frightful  yells  which  dis 
turbed  my  slumber !" 

"  No,  my  poor  fellow ;  the  Indians  are  far 


148  Saved! 

away  now,  and  we  are  in  safety.  God  be 
blessed  for  having  permitted  me  to  save  all 
I  hold  most  dear,  my  Fabian  and  my  old 
comrade  in  danger !" 

As  he  said  these  words  the  Canadian  rever 
ently  uncovered  his  gray  head  and  cordially 
extended  his  hand  to  Pepe  and  Fabian. 

After  giving  the  scalped  man  a  few  mo 
ments  to  recover  his  senses,  the  three  hunters 
made  ready  to  continue  their  route. 

"  If  you  are  not  able  to  march  with  us," 
said  Pepe  to  the  Mexican,  "  we  will  make  a 
sort  of  litter  for  you.  We  have  no  time  to 
lose  if  we  are  to  escape  those  marauders,  who, 
as  soon  as  day  breaks,  will  begin  the  finest 
chase  that  people  of  their  sort  can  ever 
manage  to  give  Christians." 

So  great  was  the  desire  of  the  wounded 
man  to  escape  as  fast  as  possible  from  a  new 
meeting  with  the  Indians,  that  he  almost 


Saved!  149 

forgot  the  atrocious  pain  he  was  enduring,. 
He  declared  that  he  could  go  as  fast  as  his 
three  liberators  themselves,  and  proposed 
setting  off  at  once. 

"  We  have  some  precautions  to  take  first," 
said  Redwood ;  "  rest  a  while  longer  until 
we  have  pulled  this  raft  to  pieces  and  deliv 
ered  it  to  the  current.  It  is  essential  that 
the  Indians  should  find  no  trace  of  us." 

All  three  set  to  work.  Already  disjointed 
by  the  breaking  of  the  root  which  had  re 
tained  it  in  the  river,  and  by  the  shock  it  had 
just  received  from  its  contact  with  the  bank, 
the  floating  islet  did  not  offer  a  long  resist 
ance  to  the  arms  of  the  three  hunters.  The 
tree-trunks  which  composed  it  were  suc 
cessively  torn  out  and  pushed  into  the  cur 
rent,  which  carried  them  away,  and  soon  no 
vestige  remained  of  the  raft  which  nature 
had  taken  so  many  years  to  build. 


150  Saved! 

When  the  last  branch  had  disappeared, 
Redwood,  assisted  by  Pepe,  occupied  himself 
in  effacing  their  footprints  by  setting  up 
again  the  stems  of  the  wild  plants  they  had 
trodden  down,  and  then  he  gave  the  signal 
to  depart. 

As  the  tallest  and  strongest  of  the  fugi 
tives;  he  was  the  first  to  enter  the  water  at 
a  sufficient  distance  from  the  bank  for  it  to 
cover  their  tracks,  so  that  the  Indians  might 
suppose  they  were  still  continuing  their  navi 
gation  on  the  islet.  The  march  was  too 
fatiguing  to  be  rapid,  and  yet,  after  an  hour, 
at  the  very  moment  when,  in  spite  of  the  foot 
coverings  they  had  preserved,  their  painful 
feet  would  have  forced  them  to  halt,  they  ar 
rived  at  the  fork  of  the  two  rivers  which 
formed  the  delta  in  which  the  Valley  of  Gold 
must  be  situated. 

Day  was  about  to  break;   dawn,  began  to 


Saved!  151 

whiten  the  horizon  toward  the  east.  A 
gray  tint  succeeded  the  obscurity.  Happily 
that  branch  of  the  river  which  they  were  to 
cross  was  not  very  deep.  The  greater  por 
tion  of  the  waters  flowed  into  the  other 
branch.  This  was  a  favorable  circumstance, 
for  the  wounded  man  would  have  caused  a 
long  delay  if  he  were  to  be  swam  across. 

Redwood  took  him  on  his  shoulders.  All 
three  entered  the  water,  which  barely  rose  to 
their  knees,  and  they  soon  landed  on  the 
farther  shore.  The  chain  of  the  Smoky 
Mountains  was  no  more  than  a  league  from 
the  point  of  the  delta  they  had  reached,  and, 
after  a  few  moments'  halt,  the  march  was  re 
sumed  with  fresh  ardor.  They  were  safe. 


PBINTBD  BY  BENZIGEH  BROTHERS,  NEW  TOEK. 


University  of  California 

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